


The Royal Romance - AO3 Relationship Landmarks

by Certainlittlesmile



Series: The Beaumont-Jones Chronicles [7]
Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, F/M, Sprinkleprompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:35:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 36,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23097208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Certainlittlesmile/pseuds/Certainlittlesmile
Summary: This is in response to a challenge on a writers group, I'm going to try and cover as many of these as I can!Some will not be relevant and some will be lifted from my other works..See notes for the list.Usual disclaimers: Not my characters, some scenes adapted from original PB storyI made it till the end of the 30 days!! I may well come back to the optional extras, but I might have a break now!Hope you have enjoyed reading these.
Relationships: Maxwell Beaumont/Main Character (The Royal Romance)
Series: The Beaumont-Jones Chronicles [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641181
Comments: 25
Kudos: 26





	1. Waitress, steaks for the table (First meeting)

**Author's Note:**

> 1) First meeting  
> 2) First date  
> 3) First time holding hands (romantically, I think is my interpretation, they'd have done it loads of times while dancing/messing around)  
> 4) First kiss  
> 5) First time one makes the other laugh  
> 6) First time sleeping together (I'm going to go with the actual "sleeping" rather than having sex because that's cute)  
> 7) First time meeting friends (going to go with Jen introducing her friend here)  
> 8) First time meeting the parents (well, parent, I guess...)  
> 9) First time snowed in/unable to leave home  
> 10) Going official on social media (think we're gonna have to go with Maxwell's 'Pictagram' for this)  
> 11) First dance :)  
> 12) First time one of them gets sick  
> 13) First extended absence after becoming accustomed to spending time together  
> 14) First fight  
> 15) First reconciliation  
> 16) First dinner at a fancy restaurant  
> 17) First time I love you  
> 18) First shopping trip  
> 19) First time breaking down in front of each other  
> 20) First roadtrip  
> 21) First real deep meaningful conversation  
> 22) First time doing something sexual in a non-sexual way  
> 23) First time jamming out in the car to an awesome song  
> 24) First time celebrating one of their birthdays together  
> 25) First time attending a workplace party (umm.. don't think this one applies)  
> 26) First holiday spent together  
> 27) First anniversary  
> 28) Moving in together  
> 29) Dealing with a drunk partner while sober  
> 30) First time grocery shopping  
> OPTIONAL EXTRAS....
> 
> 31) First fart  
> 32) Realising they're the one  
> 33) Proposal  
> 34) First major surprise about the other's physical capabilities  
> 35) First time almost kung-fu assaulting them because they're not used to having anyone in bed with them  
> 36) Putting together IKEA furniture

> “Just another glamorous New York Saturday night of hauling trash to the dumpster..” sighed Jen to Daniel, who was following close behind her, lugging an even larger bag of food waste than the one she was dragging herself, along the damp ground.
> 
> “It could be worse,” retorted Daniel. “There could be.. Rats! Jen, help!”
> 
> Jen looked in horror at where her colleague was pointing, but soon realised there was no need for such alarm. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of this adorable little mouse family. They’re only trying to get by, just like us..”
> 
> There was a yell from the back door of the bar, which they had left open. “Hey! Jen, Daniel, quit slacking off over there!”
> 
> “You _told_ us to take out the garbage,” Jen shouted in the direction of their boss, Kieran.
> 
> “And now I’m _telling_ you to wait on the bachelor party that just rolled in. Chop chop!” Kieran raged.
> 
> Jen shook her head in Daniel’s direction as they walked back towards the back door. “Chop chop, who does he think he is?”
> 
> “The boss of us,” said Daniel in defeat, looking at his watch.
> 
> As soon as Jen re-entered the bar, a very smartly dressed, pretentious looking man approached her at speed. “Waitress, there you are. We need your _best_ table!” He sounded as if he was English.
> 
> “Forget the table. Just bring us whisky, and lots of it,” said a rugged looking, dark-haired man, who was much more casually dressed and already seemed irritated. The two of them were roughly the same age as Jen.
> 
> Jen exchanged a glance with Daniel, as Kieran led the two men to a suitable table. He looked troubled.
> 
> “Jen, could you take this one? It’s only an hour until closing, and I’ve got a date after work tonight. I’ll never make it out of here in time…”
> 
> Jen gazed at him in realisation. That would explain the constant time checks and the fact that he smelt even nicer than usual. She’d been thinking about asking him out on a date herself recently; he wasn’t really her type, but she enjoyed his company at work and wasn’t really inundated with social invitations these days. It was probably best to take a rain check on that idea.
> 
> She smiled, despite her slight disappointment. “I’m on it. The tip will be insane! I’ll have those guys eating out of my hand in no time.”
> 
> He smiled back. “You’re the best!”
> 
> Kieran was suddenly next to them both. “Are you two still talking? I’ve seated them already. Now get over there before I dock your pay!”
> 
> Jen sighed, and winked at Daniel. She headed over to the table where three men sat, talking, the two she had seen earlier and a third man, hmm, _definitely_ the cutest of the three. He was well dressed but had that relaxed, dishevelled look about him that she really liked. She wondered which one was the groom. Knowing her luck, it was gonna be him.
> 
> She smiled in his direction. “Hello, gentlemen. I’ll be taking care of you this evening…”
> 
> “Waitress, steaks for the table!” he replied, banging his fists against the table animatedly, making her jump slightly.
> 
> “How about some filet mignon, medium rare and prepared with a béarnaise sauce?” pondered the pretentious-looking man, snootily.
> 
> “The closest thing we have to filet mignon is the deluxe burger,” she explained.
> 
> “Dare I ask for your wine list?” the pretentious man said, raising an eyebrow.
> 
> “We’ve got an excellent vintage house red..”
> 
> “ _House red_?” he spat.
> 
> She’d just about had enough of his condescending attitude now, but Kieran was at the next table, so she had to behave. “It also comes in white,” she said between gritted teeth. She noticed the third man’s blue eyes light up in amusement as he pretended to peruse the drinks menu, and smiled at him again. Maybe she could forgive him a little hyperactivity. He _was_ cute.
> 
> “We’ll be fine with a bottle of whiskey, and four deluxe burgers,” said the dark-haired man, clearly annoyed.
> 
> “Four?” she asked.
> 
> The dark-haired man nodded behind Jen, and she turned around to see a fourth man, tall, blond and handsome, standing behind her.
> 
> _Whoo. Now he’s gorgeous._
> 
> “Sorry I’m late. Thank you for your patience, Miss…?”
> 
> She was a little tongue-tied. “Uh, Jen.”
> 
> “Charmed to make your acquaintance, Jen,” said the newcomer, offering his hand to her.
> 
> _The pleasure’s all mine…_ “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, shaking his hand. “Now let me go put your order on. Be right back!”
> 
> She headed away from the table, and took a sneaky look back before heading into the kitchen, and could see the newcomer was looking back in her direction. Perhaps Daniel had actually done her a favour; this could be an entertaining end to the evening. That guy was _definitely_ her type.
> 
> Jen couldn’t possibly have known at this point that she had just met her future husband for the first time, and even if she had, which of the four he was.


	2. The best first date ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From my novelisation, a lot of the dialogue is from the original story

She turned up outside five minutes later in that outfit she’d worn the first night they’d met, yes, the “the waitress is hot” outfit. And she did look hot. Very hot. “Alright, I’m ready.”

“Hop in,” he said, looking her up and down, impressed beyond belief.

The car drove off from the estate, it was just a short journey to the nearest theatre.

“I remember that outfit,” he commented.

Her face lit up like Times Square. “Ha, yeah. Not the best outfit for Kismet, but I thought it’d do..”

“Let’s just say it does a lot more you than that uniform did.”

She laughed. “I should hope so, Maxwell. Was that the moment you decided you liked me? When you saw me in this?”

He shook his head. “No. But that was the moment I decided I _wanted_ you.”

She looked shocked. “Maxwell Beaumont..”

“What? Just telling it like it is..”

She giggled. “Does it still have the same effect?”

“It.. might do..”

She leant in to kiss him, all too briefly. “Well. From then to now. Our first date. To the movies.”

“I hope it goes better than my last first date,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow. “Spill.”

He laughed. There was no point in hiding anything from her. “Well, it was our first official date. We’d kinda, hooked up a few times.. and I’d stayed over hers one of those times.. so things were going pretty well.”

She threw him a grumpy look.

“But then I invited her to one of the balls. It was a couple of years ago. Think it must’ve been the ball at the end of the social season. And.. I introduced her to Leo and Rick.”

Jen giggled. “Okay. I think I know where this is going..”

He laughed. “It soon became very clear that the lovely lady on my arm was, shall we say, attempting to work her way up the social ladder. So, that was the end of her.”

“Too right,” Jen said, running her hand through his hair soothingly. “I know I’m just bitter and jealous of anyone lucky enough to get that close to you, but I hate her already.”

He laughed. “Yeah. And it wasn’t the first time that had happened. That’s kind of one of the main reasons why I just got fed up with it all. Decided I wasn’t very good at it.”

She blushed. “Oh?”

He laughed, and blushed too. “Not at.. that. Never had any complaints in that department.”

“Good to know,” she said, biting her lip, and he felt his heart fluttering like crazy.

“I mean, at the whole dating thing. Nobody ever seemed to stick around long enough. I just felt like I was doing something wrong.”

She leant back and looked thoughtfully at him. “I guess if they didn’t really know you that well, you might have come across as a bit of a… player?”

He laughed. “What are you saying?”

“You know. Hooking up with them in a club, giving them a _nice time_.. maybe that was all they were looking for from you? Because they’d already decided what sort of person they were dealing with..” She put her arm around him. “Maxwell, I love you, but having seen you in action that first night we met, I can just picture you on the hunt for laaaaaaadies….”

He gasped in mock outrage and prodded her in the arm. “Hey, what else was I to do? I guess I’d been conditioned not to look for a serious relationship outside the nobility anyway. And I guess that’s pretty much how I’d been at college.” He sighed. With one obvious exception. “But when I came back to Cordonia, the dating pool for a Cordonian lord is kinda.. _limited_. That’s why I eventually resorted to bringing over American waitresses and arranging for Rick to make them duchesses.”

Her eyes widened playfully. “The truth comes out…”

“So yeah. I just decided not to push it, just have fun with my friends and enjoy being single. There was no pressure on me to find anyone. I didn’t really feel like I was missing out too much after a while. Until the night I found you.”

“Yeah?” She looked seductively at him.

“Yeah. Then everything changed. From then all I could think about was how I just wanted to spend every second I possibly could with you. And I’d never felt like that before.”

She licked her lips. “I guess with the whole Rick thing, I didn’t realise it so much, but even at the start I enjoyed your company and just felt, like it was _right_ to be with you. And it didn’t make much sense to me, in my head, to go off and have these little meetings with him, when I could have been spending that time with you. It’s like my heart knew before my head.”

“Same,” he sighed. “And that’s why I was so rubbish when we were back in New York. I couldn’t get my head around things, even though my heart knew it was right. But, my head is together now. And, this first date is going to be the best first date ever!!”

The car turned and began to slow.

“Looks like we’re nearly there..” Jen said, looking out of the window.

The car stopped, and he hopped out to get the door for her. “M’lady.”

“My lord,” she grinned.

“Shall we?”

They stepped into the crowded lobby through tall, neon-bordered double doors. The sound of arcades, popping kernels, and distant trailers filled the room.

“Come on, I’ll get the tickets,” he offered, as they approached the box office.

“How about we go halfsies?” she suggested.

“Dutch, huh? How very European of you.”

“Well, when in Europe..” They reached the counter. “One for..” She looked at him, enquiringly.

“Stab Spectre 7..”

“..Stab Spectre 7, please!” she said, a look of amusement on her face.

“And I’ll take the same,” he said.

They had their tickets now. Jen looked around the arcade. “Looks like we have a few minutes to kill before the movie starts.. want to play something?”

“I’m not really into…” But then he saw it. “Ohmygod. They have Disco Dance Rebellion here!”

He ran over to a large machine near the centre of the lobby. Two mechanical dance mats rested before a tall, curved screen. “Now this may seem complicated on first glance, but..”

She examined the machine. “Looks like you just step on the same symbols that show up on the screen, right?”

“Maybe it isn’t as complicated as I thought.” He looked at her mischievously. “Think you can take me?” He stepped onto one of the mats and offered her his hand.

She took his hand, and stepped onto the mat next to his. “Oh, it’s on, Beaumont!”

Maxwell dropped a handful of coins into the front of the arcade machine. A few moments later, the screen lit up in a dizzying array of colours while an up tempo, electronic beat began playing from the speakers.

He did his thing. He loved this game, he had thought about buying one to have at home, but finances! As the song neared its end, it sped up again. He glanced across at Jen, and, well, that might have put him off slightly. Damn, she had sexy moves. Okay, he might have nearly fallen off the dance pad.

The game ended, and the scores were shown side by side. Jen had beaten him! He stood agog at the screen. _No-one_ beat him.

“You cheated! Using animal magnetism during virtual dance-offs is definitely not allowed.. you should know that!”

“I’ll be sure to remember that for next time. Although maybe you should have been focusing on the screen, not me trying to put you off..”

“I can’t believe you beat me…” He laughed. “But I guess I should have learned by now not to underestimate you, ever. I’d say we’ve earned some snacks.” Maxwell placed his arm around her back, and walked with her to the concession stand. “Savoury thoughts? Sugary thoughts?”

“Can’t go wrong with fresh popcorn at a movie theatre,” she pointed out.

“You read my mind, Jen. Sir, we’ll have the XXXL tub, please..”

It took the server both hands to carry the tub over.

“That’s quite the tub you’ve got there,” Jen teased. “You sure that’s enough for a whole movie?”

He shrugged. “It was the biggest they had..”

“Then we’ll just have to fix this ourselves,” she said, mischievously.

“What do you mean?”

She pointed to the colourful toppings bar. “Our popcorn isn’t quite complete without gummy bears. Would gummy bears be too much?”

“Is that a rhetorical question? Who can turn down the salty sweet bifecto?” He excitedly dipped a ladle deep into the bowl of gummy bears, then dropped his haul into Jen’s popcorn.

“Perfect,” she sighed.

He lifted the large bucket of popcorn into his arms. “Alright, I think we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

“Then let’s go, the movie’s about to start..”

They wandered through and into the screen that the film was showing on. He followed Jen to where their seats were. “We’re at the centre of the whole theatre. Best date ever!”

“You know the movie hasn’t even started yet, right?”

“Oh, right, even better!”

“I’m glad you’re having fun, though,” she said to him as he put the popcorn down on the floor in front of them (there was no space between them, and that wasn’t a problem). “You’ve seemed more serious lately, and it’s worried me a little bit.”

He sighed. “I guess I’ve been thinking about the Beaumont estate a lot lately. The Beaumont finances would look a lot better if I had some kind of way to make money.”

“You mean like a job?”

“Yeah, although I don’t know if there’s anything I could do. My noble upbringing didn’t exactly prep me with job type skills. Unless I could be, like, an ice cream tester or something?”

“I don’t think that’s a real thing. But I could see you as a reality TV host..”

He laughed. “I’ve always wanted my own reality show! I have a million ideas..”

“Okay, pretend I’m a network executive. You have ten seconds to sell me one of them.”

“Just ten? That doesn’t really give me a lot of..”

“The executive taps her watch impatiently.”

He laughed. This was just like old times. “Okay, picture this, it’s like Jersey Shore, but it’s in Lythikos. And instead of people, it’s penguins.”

“Aand time’s up.”

“Well? Did I get the show?”

She frowned. “We’ll get back to you.”

The lights dimmed, and the audience began to quieten.

“It’s starting!” he said, rubbing his hands together.

The movie began with an average looking couple enjoying dinner together in a quiet room. Suddenly without warning a ghostly hand emerged from the woman’s soup and reached for her steak knife. Maxwell jumped in his seat, and ducked his head behind Jen’s arm. She wrapped a welcome arm around his shoulders, cosying up with him comfortably as the movie continued.

The jump scares lessened by the second act, making way for a surprisingly rounded love story. “Did you see that? His hand passed right through her! I totally called it, she’s a ghost. He’s dating a ghost and he didn’t even know!”

Jen whispered in response. “I think that’s significantly unrealistic. How do you not notice that the person you’re with is dead?”

“Seems passable to me. I mean, how do you know that I’m not secretly a..” He felt a painful pinch on his arm. “Yowch! Hey.. point taken..”

At the climax of the film, the woman drained the life from her friend to regain her physical form long enough to share a kiss with her boyfriend. Soon after the credits rolled and the audience began to shuffle out from the auditorium, but Maxwell and Jen remained seated.

“Wow, they barely knew each other, and she killed her own best friend just to kiss him?” Maxwell turned to Jen. “Reminds me of us a little bit.”

She reared back. “Whoa, I’m all for having a Hollywood level romance with you, but I’m not sure how I feel about that specific comparison..”

He smiled. “Hey. I don’t mean the killing part, or the ghost part. I just mean they fell in love so hard, so fast. I feel like it was just the other day when we first met in New York.” He took her hand. “Now we’re getting married. Things have moved so fast.”

She leant back towards him. “I think we have been moving pretty fast..”

“Yeah? You think so?”

“I’m not saying it’s bad, just maybe we need more nights like this. A chance to be with each other for no other reason than enjoying each other’s company.”

That sounded awesome. “I’d like that.”

She looked thoughtful. “But also, in some ways, I think we could speed things up even more. If you know what I mean.”

“You do?” He didn’t feel so nervous as he had previously on this subject. And Jen didn’t seem to be tiptoeing around it so much as normal.

“Yes. I love you, and I really love spending time with you, Maxwell. We’re getting married, and we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. So why wait? Why not make the most of every single second we’re lucky enough to share together?”

“You know, when you put it that way..” What the hell. She was right. He lightly lifted her chin with his finger and kissed her. “Looks like we’re the only ones left in here. Dark room, comfy chairs, give you any ideas?”

“Maybe one..” She grinned, and he felt his heart race as she slid a leg over his lap and pressed her hips against his waist, mounting his lap. “This okay?”

Okay. Okay. Okay. “Maybe even a little too okay.”

Jen cradled his face in her hands, and he reached behind her, pressing against her back, drawing her body even closer to his. She kissed him deeply, moving her body against his in a slow rhythm. Woah, this was something else. He heard the voices in his head, telling him to slow down, telling him this wasn’t the right place. He ignored them, turning his body in a single smooth motion and laying her super-sexy body down across the connected seats. Sliding on top of her, he took her arm and began to kiss it at the wrist, working his way up her arm to her shoulder and neck.

“Oh! Maxwell…”

She seemed to be enjoying this as much as he was. He nibbled at the bottom of her ear, then moved his mouth against hers, pressing his lips hard against hers, neither of them releasing each other until the auditorium lights started to come up a few minutes later.

Jen sat up. “Where did that come from?”

He grinned, blushing slightly. “Well, you said..”

“Oh, I am _not_ complaining. We should _definitely_ pick that up later.”

“Count on it,” he assured her.

They left the theatre and took their car back to the estate, and he was happy to spend the ride home with Jen’s head on his shoulder, chatting about the film.

“So, how did this one hold up to the early _Stab Spectres?_ ”

“Honestly? Better than 1,2,4 and 5. Not as good as 3. But just as good as 6.”

“High praise, I think..”

“Definitely. And getting to see it on the big screen with you was really special. I had to watch the other ones on a 20” TV after Bertrand went to bed. There was something about that theatre surround sound that really makes you feel _surrounded_ by the ectoplasm, you know?”

"Uh.. yeah, I think I get that." 


	3. That's nice (First hand hold)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an extract from one of my other published works "Moments in between"
> 
> Taken from the chapter "After the roof"

They walked for a little while in near silence, and Jen felt oddly deflated. He'd definitely said everything she'd hoped he'd say in response to her revelation, but his physical reactions didn't quite tally up with what he'd said. He was obviously mulling over all the things that had been going through her head over the last few months. 

"You okay?" she eventually asked him again.

He nodded. "Just thinking."

"Want to talk it through with me?"

"Probably best I don't," he said with a cheeky smile. 

She grinned. "Oh?"

"Look, I'm sorry if this is weird, or not how you thought things would go. I just need to get my head around it all."

"That's fine," she said. She looked around and behind them to make sure there was no-one they knew in the vicinity, and she took his hand. 

"That's nice," he said.

"So, where did Drake go?" she asked him. 

"Not entirely sure. He said something about leaving us two to it, just before you came back from talking to Adelaide."

She sniggered. "Huh." Maybe he'd seen this coming. 

"If only he knew, huh?"

"Yeah," she said, softly. 

They were back at the hotel now, and took the lift up to their rooms, which were opposite each other. Normally, he'd pop into her room for a bit when they got back from an event, before heading to bed, but tonight was different, and he hovered outside the room as she opened the door.

"Night then," she said, looking up and down the corridor. There was no-one about. She turned her gaze back to him, desperate to kiss him again, but not wanting to be the initiator this time. 

She wasn't disappointed, and she closed her eyes in bliss as he hesitantly leant in. They kissed gently, for a few long seconds. 

As he pulled away, he put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm so glad I don't have to fight this anymore," he murmured softly. "You've got no idea how hard it's been."

"Oh, trust me, I do," she said in response, and watched as his face lit up again. So many times she'd just desperately wanted to get closer to him, feel his skin close to hers, inhale his sweet scent, kiss those soft lips. It had been very difficult. Now she'd had a taste, it would be even more difficult. But as much as she wanted more, she knew it wouldn't be a good idea to invite him in, given what he'd said earlier, that he needed to think things through. 

"So..." His grin had faded, and he looked unsure of himself.

"Let's just get some sleep, see how we feel tomorrow," she said to him. After all, if anything happened now, it would just make it harder if things worked out as they both hoped they would, if her name was cleared, if things worked out with Rick.

"Yeah. And I've got those calls to make."

"Yeah. Well, let me know tomorrow morning how you got on."

"Night, Jen."

She kissed him again, closing her eyes and feeling the smile form on his lips afterwards. She was much more content now than she had been when they'd left the party. She got that this was a big thing, and it had obviously come as a shock to him. Hopefully a nice shock.

But she felt proud of herself for what she'd achieved tonight. And she knew now that she wasn't just fond of him, or simply attracted to him. She loved him. But she couldn't tell him that just yet. 

"Night, Maxwell."

She shut the door and leant against it for a few seconds, her heart beating ten to the dozen. Her smile was fixed, and she felt little tears of happiness running down her face. He felt the same.


	4. All's well that Maxwell (First kiss :) )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much all the dialogue is lifted from the original story here, it was too critical to mess about with!
> 
> *sigh*

She gazed up into the beautiful starry sky, and took in the New York landscape, hardly able to believe how perfect it was up here, how private, how idyllic. In fact, it was almost like her perfect Eiffel Tower date with Rick. Except, it was many, many times better than that, because this time the man standing next to her was Maxwell.

She knew she’d never get a better chance to talk to him about how she felt than now, but still had doubts, still felt weighed down by the expectations from both sides as to where her life would go next. Maybe she should just park that for now, just pretend that they were the only two people in the world. After all, they were the only two people on this rooftop. Yes, that would work.

“You know,” she said to him, “Looking up at the stars is so romantic.”

“Yeah, I guess it kind of is,” he said.

“And I’m.. I’m glad I’m sharing it with you,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm.

“Oh..” he said, looking across at her curiously. “Me too.”

“You know, with everything that’s happened, I’ve been thinking a lot about change. About how much I’ve changed since coming to Cordonia. And how other people have changed too. Rick is King now. Hana stood up to her dad. Drake is an uncle.. but you, you haven’t changed very much at all.”

“Yeah..” he said, nervously.

She sighed, remembering her first impression of him so clearly, and fondly. “You’re still the same happy-go-lucky, impulsive guy who walked into my bar what feels like a lifetime ago and banged on the table..”

“That sounds like a bad thing..” He still sounded edgy.

“No, it’s not. You know, I’m not sure I’ve properly thanked you for what you did that night,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you,” she reminded him. “I wouldn’t have become an honorary Beaumont, or been to court.. I wouldn’t have travelled around the world.”

He looked confused. “Well, really, it was Rick, right? I mean.. you came to Cordonia for him.”

She shook her head, and sighed. She turned around to face away from the railing they both leant on. “It was never really about him. It was about a guy standing outside my work, offering me the adventure of a lifetime. I had fun that night, but until you showed up the next morning, it was just a night. I would have gone on with my life like nothing had ever happened. What I’m trying to say is.. thank you.”

“Maybe it would have been for the best if I’d just left you well enough alone,” he said.

“What are you talking about?” He really wasn’t his energetic, positive self this evening, and that concerned her.

He was looking down at this feet. “If _I_ brought you here, then _I’m_ also responsible for your name being dragged through the mud, for all the problems that have come up. I should have at least been able to fix them for you.”

She tapped the bottom of his chin, and his blue eyes met her gaze. “You’ve been fixing them. Weren’t you the one who spent all day on the phone trying to track down Tariq?”

“I guess..” The sparkle started to come back.

“And who helped me chase down a reporter on the streets of Italy?” That was quite a moment between them that she should have seized.

He was smiling now. “Ooh, I know this one. Me!”

“Exactly,” she said, smiling back gently. “And when I was sitting in the airport after the Coronation, waiting for my flight home, who came to my rescue, to bring me back to court?”

“Well, Bertrand was there too,” he tried to argue.

“It was you, Maxwell. You’ve always been there for me, through everything, from the start. I can always count on you to be the bad cop to my good cop..”

“Yeah,” he said, livening up at last. “Partners in crime! Or I guess in the opposite of crime. Partners in vigilante law enforcement! Wait, vigilantism _is_ crime.. Partners in stuff!”

“Dance partners,” she said, feeling warm and fuzzy at the thought of their Cordonian Waltz.

“That too!” he said. “Friends for life.”

 _Fuck it._ She gulped, and took a deep breath. “Maxwell.. you’re more than a friend to me.”

“I’m.. wait, what?” He looked at her, an expression of complete shock on his face.

“Well, it makes sense,” she said, because it did to her. The words fell out. “You’ve always been by my side; you’ve always championed me. And you’re the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning.. and not just because you’re basically my alarm clock. I guess I’ve always had a bit of a crush on you.”

“You have?”

She nodded, and went on. “Even that first day we met, you were so sweet and funny, and it was clear how much you cared about Rick. I didn’t think much of it at first, with all the excitement of court and the competition, but it’s been growing ever since, and.. well.. I can’t ignore it anymore.”

The words stopped. For a long while, Maxwell said nothing, not quite meeting her eyes.

This wasn’t quite the reaction she’d hoped for.

Her heart felt like it was going to escape from her chest. What was he thinking about? Eventually, he glanced back at her, an unreadable expression on his face, but still nothing.

“Maxwell? You can’t leave me hanging…”

He looked away again. “I guess.. if I think about it… I’ve felt the same way.. for a while…”

She let out a little gasp. _Ohmygod._ “You have?”

He looked at her again. “I mean.. yeah.. you’re.. You’re amazing, Jen.”

She couldn’t help but beam, although her heart hadn’t stopped pounding.

He went on. “I figured it was like an extra strong friendship, where you also want to kiss your friend sometimes? I can’t believe.. I _never_ imagined you would feel the same way. This is.. I guess I’d say it’s unbelievable.”

She nodded, still smiling widely. She’d convinced herself he couldn’t possibly feel the same way so many times, that she genuinely felt amazed at his words. Why hadn’t he said anything? But then, why hadn’t she?

There was an obvious reason, of course. And judging by the expression that had just arrived on his face, it was about to be raised.

“But.. you’re here for Rick, aren’t you?” He looked at her soberly. “What about him?”

“I don’t want him,” she said, eyes locked with his. “And he doesn’t want a loveless marriage, like the one he’d have with Madeleine, anyway.”

Maxwell still looked troubled. “What about Bertrand?”

“What _about_ Bertrand?”

“Well, he’s still hoping that you’ll become Queen and restore House Beaumont..” He turned and gazed over the railing again. “It’s one thing if you don’t marry Rick because of some other reason, but if it’s because of… _me_ …”

She had of course already thought long and hard about this. “You’re right. It’s a complication.” She took his hand. “I’m not sure how to reconcile my feelings for you with the promises I’ve made to you and Bertrand. But I can’t help the way I feel about you. And I’m not going to hide it forever because of Bertrand.”

“But..”

“Listen, Maxwell. I don’t care what Bertrand thinks, and you shouldn’t either. If Bertrand can’t see how hard you’re working for your House, then he’s a lost cause.”

Maxwell sighed. “Jen, he’s still my brother.”

 _Noooo. Please, don’t do this to me, Maxwell._ “Hey. I won’t try to convince you to do anything you don’t want to do. I just had to tell you how I feel. And if you don’t feel the same way about me..” She bit her lip. “Well, I don’t have any expectations. I just needed to tell you.”

“That’s not what I meant, Jen. I definitely _do_ feel the same way. I just need to think about.. what this all means.” He squeezed her hand. “Why are you telling me this _now_?”

She sighed. “With Rick and Madeleine’s wedding coming up, and us about to find Tariq, I’ve just been thinking a lot about my future lately. And who I might want to spend it with.”

Maxwell stared at her for a long moment, his expression somewhere between hope and uncertainty. She took a tentative step forward, her eyes locked on Maxwell’s. He smiled.

In the next moment, she closed the distance, putting one hand on Maxwell’s shoulder while the other wrapped around his neck, bringing his lips to hers. He responded, his arms enveloping her tenderly as his lips met hers in a fervent, heated kiss. After a blissful moment, she pulled away, breathless.

He looked at her, a startled smile on his lips. “I didn’t even know I wanted to do that… but I _definitely_ wanted to do that.”

“Thanks?” she said, playfully. She just wanted to do it again already. The many hours she’d spent wondering what it felt like to kiss those lips had not been wasted.

He looked concerned. “Was that not the right thing to say?”

She beamed at him. “It was perfectly Maxwell.”

“All’s well that Maxwell,” he grinned.

She shook her head and groaned. “I’ve never heard that one before..”

“I’ve only just thought of it,” he admitted.

She looked back at him. “Riiight. So what happens now?”

“Now.. we should head back down to that party?” he suggested.

“Oh,” she said, a little disappointed. “I thought..” She just wanted to be alone with him, whether it was here or somewhere else.

He looked imploringly at her. “Jen.. as you said, there’s a lot going on right now, and we have a lot to think about. Maybe we’ll take it slow? Just for now?”

“I suppose so,” she said, sulkily.

He reached for her hand, and squeezed it affectionately, before releasing it.

“I guess we really should focus on the party,” she reluctantly agreed. “We have a lot to think about.”

“Yeah…” He was almost speechless. This had obviously been more of a shock for him than she’d thought. Clearly he hadn’t picked up on any of the hints she’d tried to drop over the last few months, Drake had been right on the money.

“This has been a lot to process, for both of us,” she said, as they headed back towards the stairs.

He nodded, and they walked down the stairs to the elevators in silence.


	5. Not known for his tact (First time Maxwell makes Jen laugh)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something new today!

They all set off walking, Jen leading the way, Rick walking semi-protectively next to her, the other three trailing behind them.

She glanced across at Rick, rather impressed with his chivalry so far, not to mention his stunningly handsome looks. He was tall and she got the impression he was strong. She wondered what he did for a living. Fireman? Security guard? He was imposing enough.

“Have you lived in New York for long?” he asked her.

“About six, seven years,” she explained. “It’s a beautiful city.”

“It is. There’s so much to see and do here,” he said contemplatively. “It’s a terrible shame we are leaving tomorrow. I’m going to do everything I can to engineer another opportunity to come back as soon as I can, see a little more of it.”

“Oh really? You’ll have to let me know when you do. I’ll have to give you my number or something.”

He looked distant. “Perhaps.”

There was a tap on his shoulder, and they both turned to see one of his friends (the cute one who had just declared to them all that he thought Jen looked hot) trying to get their attention.

“Hey. Rick. Jen.”

Rick sighed. “What is it?”

His friend bounded forwards and inbetween Rick and Jen. “Hey, Jen. I’m sorry if we got off on a bad foot. I mean, I didn’t _mean_ to flick that pea at you, I was just curious to see how far I could get one to go…”

She smiled slyly. She’d had hyperactive customers in her time, but this one was going to stick in her mind for a while. “Well, I think your curiosity was rewarded in spades. I thought it was quite an impressive move.”

“You did? Ohmygod, I thought you hated me! Especially after the cutlery juggling incident nearly went so badly wrong! That’s why I was trying to big you up back there.. it’s just… maybe I didn’t get it quite right.” He held out a hand. “Maxwell Beaumont.”

“Jen Jones,” she replied politely. “Very pleased to meet you. And, good name!”

“Thank you,” he said proudly.

“Maxwell’s clearly a little excited at the prospect of going to _another_ club,” Rick commented.

“Oh you have no idea. And I’ve heard all about Kismet. I mean, there are clubs and there are _clubs._ And this is a club!” He was hopping from foot to foot with excitement. “The dance floor is meant to be huge!”

“It is,” Jen agreed. She’d worked there once, and still knew the people at Kismet well enough to know she could get them in for free, which was no doubt going to impress Rick. “You gonna hit it?”

He looked at her in confusion. “You know, it’s always super weird when I meet someone for the first time and they don’t know me…”

She cocked her head. “How so?”

“Because if you knew me, that wouldn’t be a question you’d need to ask. Of _course_ I’m gonna hit it! And I’m gonna show the whole of NYC all my world renowned sweet dance moves..” He started to groove as they were walking. “The Maxwell special is gonna be in the house!!”

She laughed carefreely at his sheer playfulness. “I look forward to it.”

“You better believe it..”

“Maxwell…” There was a call from behind them, coming from the dark haired, irritable looking man who’d been less than complimentary about the idea of her coming along. “Get back here.”

“Hey, I’m just introducing myself to our new friend, Drake…”

“And you’ve done it now. So get back here.”

“Aww..” He looked back at Jen. “I’ll catch you on the dance floor then?”

“We’ll see,” she said with a sweet smile in his direction. His blue eyes twinkled back at her, before he fell back in line with Drake and Rick’s other friend.

Rick leant into her. “He’s not known for his tact, that one,” he muttered.

“Known for his sweet dance moves though, apparently,” she chuckled.


	6. No more secrets? (First time sleeping together)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taken from my work "What nearly happened.." well this is what really happened, even though I prefer my alternative version :)

“Well,” she said, “Since I’m here and there still could be ghosts lurking all around, I guess it’d be safer if we stayed together tonight.”

He wasn’t going to argue. “Good thinking. We can take turns keeping watch. You wanna go first?”

“But the ghosts can’t get us if we’re together,” she said. “Let’s just stay here like this, and cuddle!”

“I… uhhh..”

“You know, like we did last time? At your place? Because that was nice. Or is ‘shirtless’ your advanced ghost fighting tactic?” She reached out to touch his tattoo.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, flustered. “Ghosts are terrified of the exposed body. It makes them uncomfortable.” 

“So…” She looked at him with a strange expression that he didn’t really get.

“I’ll, uh, guard the entrance,” he said, edging towards the tent door. “I swear on House Beaumont, I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“Thanks, Maxwell.” He heard her sigh, and move about. “The things I have do to check you’re okay.”

He turned to face her. “I’m okay..” More than okay, actually.

“I’ve just been worried, and I haven’t had the chance to talk to you properly since the whole Savannah thing broke.”

He sighed. It hadn’t been the best few days. Drake was being really different with him, and as for Bertrand, he didn’t really want to relive that conversation they’d had just before his brother had angrily returned to Cordonia to lick his wounds.

“Wanna talk about it?” she said, moving in to hug him.

“Not right now,” he admitted, letting her hold him. “I’m sorry, Jen.”

“You’re sorry?”

“That I couldn’t tell you.” He’d wanted desperately to confide in her about it, but how could he have done? He had seriously considered it at one point, when she’d come to his room and almost caught him in the act of wrapping up baby clothes to send across to Paris.

“Hey, as I keep telling Drake, it wasn’t your secret to tell.” She reached across to ruffle his hair. “Don’t keep beating yourself up. I think what you did was amazing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re such a good friend, Maxwell.” She rested her head on his chest.

He nodded, not sure why he would have expected her to say anything more. “So, no more secrets between us, yeah?” Apart from the obvious one, which wasn’t really a secret, more of a something he would tell her eventually when the subject came up. It was just hard to talk about. Oh, and also the fact that he was totally, utterly and irretrievably besotted with her. 

She paused. “Okay. No more secrets.” She leant up to face him, her face very close to his. Although she was in a separate sleeping bag, this was still a little too much for him. He had to change the subject. 

“How are things going with Rick?” he said, inadvertently interrupting her just as she started to say something.

She looked upset, and pulled away. 

“What? Just curious, that’s all! I’m just surprised you’re in here with me, not in his tent with him! I heard he took you to the Eiffel Tower the other night? That must have been amazing!” 

She turned her back to him. “Like I said, I just needed to check you were okay, Maxwell.”

She obviously didn’t want to talk about that either. Well, what she and Rick got up to wasn’t any of his business. “Okay. Well, I’m okay.” He reached across to touch her face. “Sweet dreams.”

“You too,” he heard her sniff.

He lay awake for a while, listening to her breathing change as she slept. Taking everything in of how it felt to fall asleep next to her. He knew it was never going to happen again.


	7. The outcome was favourable (first time meeting friends)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is lifted from "The Valtoria Diaries" during Jen and Maxwell's trip to NYC!

This had already been the best day ever, but it was steadily improving. Lots of sweet hotel room shenanigans to start the day, next a return visit to Coney Island, some subway fun (and yes, they had been _that_ couple), getting to feed the super-cute penguins at the zoo, and now Maxwell was eating the best pizza he had ever eaten. In. His. Life. “Mmmphhmm. Yummmm.”

“Think he likes it?” Jen pondered aloud to Anita, her ex roommate.

“Honey, if you can’t tell then maybe you shouldn’t be married to him,” was Anita’s response.

This triggered an adorable giggle from Jen. Maxwell liked Anita already.

Another mouthful down. “Mmm mmm. Wow. Wow wow.”

“I never had you down as a pizza lover,” Jen said, looking at him curiously. “You’ve never mentioned pizza before. Not even when we were in Italy.”

“Well I pretty much lived on takeaway pizza when I was in London,” he explained. “I figured I’d probably had my fill of it. But this supreme delicacy has convinced me otherwise. Wow. That’s what we need in Valtoria. A pizza takeaway. Can we make it happen?”

“Um… we can try?”

“Yes. Make it so, Duchess!” He went back to his scrumptious doughy mouth-watering meal.

Anita shook her head. “So, going back to what we were talking about earlier, you hadn’t quite got to the bit where you explained to me why you didn’t marry _the prince that you were supposed to…_ ”

Jen put her arm out towards him, palms up. “That. That is why. I found my Mr Right. Well, my Lord Right. Who just happened to be the chancer whose idea it was for me to marry the Prince in the first place.”

“Yeah I got that bit. So your plan went as wrong as it possibly could’ve..”

He made a noise of disagreement. “I like to think the outcome was favourable..”

Jen smiled. “I realised just in time, I wouldn’t be happy as the Queen of Cordonia. I’d rather be Queen of _his_ heart any day. I said no to Rick, and.. four days later, this one asked me to marry him.” She showed Anita her twig ring, which she was sporting proudly. “Hand made engagement ring and everything.”

Anita clapped her hands. “You couldn’t make it up. I love it. Someone should write a book about your story. I’d definitely read it.”

 _Ohhh._ He looked at Anita nervously, and she looked back at him.

“Alright over there?” she quipped.

“Mmhmm, yeah..” Seemingly that was just a coincidence and he wasn’t walking around with a sign on his head saying _I’m writing a book but don’t tell Jen._

“I figured you were marrying the prince, to be honest, when I got the invitation. Cathedral wedding, palace reception..”

“Well, Rick has been very generous to us,” Jen said modestly.

“So, presumably you’re a Duchess because you married a Duke?”

“Not exactly. Maxwell’s brother is a Duke. I was appointed to the rank of Duchess by Rick, so Maxwell became a Duke that way.”

“Riiighht…”

“We’ve both been lucky. Although the luckiest bit was finding each other.”

“And finding this pizza,” he commented, polishing off the last slice.

Jen giggled. “Such a shame you couldn’t make it to the wedding, Neet.”

“I couldn’t. I mean, I know you said you’d cover my travel costs, but.. getting the time off work was going to be impossible.”

“Daniel managed it,” Jen said. “I couldn’t believe it when he turned up.”

“Daniel? As in Daniel from work, that you used to have the hot….”

 _What?_ His ears pricked up as Jen gave Anita _that_ look.

“Er…” Anita continued. “The hot dog eating contests with..?” She looked back at Jen, and they laughed.

“Thanks Anita,” Jen sighed, looking over at Maxwell guiltily.

 _Daniel? Really?_ Good job he could see the funny side. “Well, just lucky for me that he didn’t win that particular.. _contest_ , and you still wanted to come with me to Cordonia.”

“Hey, I wasn’t exactly surrounded by cute guys in my life back then. Daniel was pretty much the only guy I saw on a regular basis. Anyway, _you_ were the cutest guy I’d seen in the bar for years. I remember thinking it.”

“Yeah, yeah, and then thirty seconds later I became the _second cutest_ when you saw Rick..”

“Yeah, yeah, but who did I marry?”

Anita held her hands up. “Hey, I’m sorry if I put my foot in it right there…”

“Don’t worry, Neet. Daniel was forgotten well before I stepped on that plane, and Maxwell knows it really.” She blew him a kiss. “So, what do you think of my old apartment, babe?”

“It’s bigger than I expected,” he said, glancing around. It wasn’t a bad little pad, to be honest.

“Is your new roommate in, Neet?”

“Nope, she’s not due back till quite a bit later on. Why?”

“Can I show Maxwell my old room?”

“Knock yourself out,” Anita said. “I’ll just tidy up these pizza boxes. Want another drink?”

“I’m good,” Jen said. “Maxwell?”

“Another one of those _a-maz-ing_ authentic NYC _cw-affees_ would be amazing..” he gushed. “Need to keep my caffeine levels topped up to keep up with my wife.”

“Sure it’s not the other way round?” Anita said with a smirk in Jen’s direction. _Ouch._

“Come on,” Jen said, taking him by the hand and leading him into a side room. “So this was my room. Oh.. it’s very tidy in here.. ”

“Seems your replacement is a bit OCD…” Maxwell said, walking into what looked like a show bedroom in a furniture store. Then he caught sight of the view from the window. “Whoa.” _That view._ “I didn’t realise we were so high up.”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She was already kneeling on the bed, nose to the window. “I’d sit here for hours and dream. So much possibility, so much life.”

He sat next to her and put his arms around her. “It almost rivals the view from our balcony.”

“It’s very different. I don’t need to dream now. But when I was here, I did. I needed to believe that my knight in shining armour was out there somewhere amongst those flashing lights. Especially when I first got here.” She sighed.

He didn’t know too much about what had happened to her to bring her here. They’d spoken about her New York life a handful of times, but not for a while, or in any great depth. “I’m guessing you moved here when you split up with.. uh..”

“Brad,” she sighed. “But, no. I actually moved here when Amy moved away from New York. My previous roommate.”

He was amused. “Can we just go back to how you were engaged to a guy called _Brad?_ My goodness, Jen Jones, the things I’ve learned about you in the last ten minutes..” He threw her his best disapproving look.

She giggled, but then looked sullen. “Yeah yeah. Brad and Jen. I know. They split up too. This Brad didn’t go off with Angelina Jolie, though. But that’s another story. For another time.”

He wanted to know more about her past. Of course he did. But she was right, now wasn’t the time. Not when they had just popped into a stranger’s room for a minute.

“Anyway. When I broke up with Brad I moved in with Amy for a bit, but then she moved away not long after, so I came here. I felt a bit lost. And I got to know Neet eventually, but when I was first here, it felt like I was all on my own.” She looked so sad for a moment, clearly the memory was painful.

“Well, I made it to NYC eventually to find you. Did you not see me waving up at you the night before we met?”

She smiled. “Maybe I did, Maxwell.” She took his hand and delicately kissed it. “I guess we better get back. I just wanted to share this with you. To share a little bit of my world, with my whole world.”

 _All the feels._ He kissed her gently, then stood up and offered her his hand. “Your Grace.”

She got to her feet. “Your Grace. _Cw-affee_?”

“ _Cw-affee_. And then…?”

She grinned at him. “ _Then_ … you’re in for a real treat.”

She walked out of the bedroom, and he danced a little happy dance behind her.

Anita, who was holding a mug of coffee, just shook her head. “I don’t know where you found this one, Jen. But I reckon he’s the only one of his kind.”

“Oh, I know that, Neet. I know.”


	8. Ready to face anything (First time meeting the parents...)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a new piece based around the scene in The Royal Heir 1.

“It’s so good to be back,” Hana said, as Jen hugged Savannah warmly. Hana was right; although they had only been away from the ranch for two nights, it had seemed like an eternity to Jen.

She looked around curiously; nobody else seemed to be about. “So, did we miss anything exciting when we were away?” she asked Savannah, throwing her overnight bag down on the dining room floor.

There were two thuds from upstairs, followed by a scampering noise which got closer and closer, and two bundles of fluff soon threw themselves at Jen.

“Alright, Destiny, Chance..” Jen giggled as they greeted her with snuffles and licks. “Mommy missed you! Did you look after Daddy?”

“ _Daddy_ isn’t back from the bachelor party yet,” Savannah said with a mischievous grin. “But, by all accounts, I think the boys had a good night.”

“Oh that’s a relief, Maxwell was worried that Bertrand was going to ruin everything…” She checked her phone. “It might explain why he didn’t reply to my message to say we’d landed… guessing his phone battery’s flat.” She’d missed Maxwell so much over the last few days it had physically hurt. Two whole days… two whole nights. Until now, the longest they’d been apart in the whole year they’d been together was about twelve hours. The first twenty four hours had been easier, he’d been a little off radar yesterday and this morning.

“How come they stayed out?” Hana asked, as she gave Destiny a scratch around the ears.

“They went camping,” Savannah giggled.

“Bertrand? _Camping?_ Ohmygod, I’ve heard everything now,” Jen howled. “I bet that was Drake’s idea, wasn’t it? So what was the surprise that Maxwell was organising all about?”

“I have no idea, but it was in a very large crate,” Savannah said.

“Oh, I kinda thought it might have been a dance party or something… _obviously_!”

At that, they heard a loud revving from outside the door.

“What’s that?” Savannah asked curiously. “Sounds like.. a motorbike?”

Hana looked out the window. “Oh my word, ladies, you’re both going to want to see this! Go outside!”

Jen and Savannah did as they were told, and were met by an amusing, welcoming and endearing sight; the brothers Beaumont doing circuits of the ranch’s courtyard on a vintage motorbike, Bertrand’s grin possibly visible from the moon, and Maxwell’s whoops of joy probably audible from there too.

Maxwell suddenly leapt off the back of the bike and ran towards Jen. As he drew her into his arms she almost felt herself welling up with how pleased she was to be back there. They held each other tightly for a few seconds, then looked into each other’s eyes.

“Good morning, little blossom,” he said.

“Hey, babe,” she replied.

They kissed all too briefly; as by now Bertrand was walking up to them.

“So, you gonna tell me where the bike came from?” Savannah asked.

Bertrand looked across at Maxwell. “Would you care to explain, Maxwell?”

“ _That_ is no ordinary bike,” enthused Maxwell, not letting go of Jen. “That is the very same Cavalieri Novanta 9S, that Bertrand owned when he was seventeen!”

“Woah, I never had you down for a biker boy, Bertrand,” a confused Jen commented. Hana, who had joined them outside, laughed in agreement.

“I remember it well,” sighed Savannah. “I used to watch him ride it into the palace grounds to come get Leo back in the day.” Her eyes were starry.

“Well, it was one of the first things that had to be sold off, but – when Bertrand refused to accept the down-payment from my book, I figured I could use it to buy him the wedding present of a _lifetime_ instead!”

“And Maxwell, it was one of your better ideas,” Bertrand said, looking fondly back at the bike.

Drake’s truck drove up to the door; he and Rick got out.

“Hey, the gang’s all here,” Jen said, not planning on leaving Maxwell’s arms for a while.

Rick walked up to them. “I see that Cordonia’s finest envoys have returned from their diplomatic mission.”

“We have,” said Hana. 

“I assume Olivia had to rush back to Lythikos?” He looked as disappointed as Jen would have expected him to.

Jen nodded. “Yeah. I’ve never known her to be homesick before..”

“But since you’re both in one piece, I assume Isabella was a decent hostess?”

Jen rubbed her burned arms, covered by the sleeves of her denim jacket, absent-mindedly. “Isabella made the mistake of underestimating us. She put us on the spot the moment we got off that plane, but we gave as good as we got.”

“Nobody messes with Jen and Hana!” Hana agreed.

“Then I’m glad we sent you both to stand up for Cordonia,” Rick said, as Drake joined them.

“We learned a lot about what Auvernal’s really like,” Hana went on. “And we showed them that if they want an alliance, Cordonia can hold its own at the negotiating table.”

“There’s a guy walking up the driveway back there,” Drake commented. “I’m sure I recognise him from somewhere. Carrying a suitcase.”

“Oh okay, Mom and Leona are out with Bartie at the moment, but I’m sure I can deal with him.. it might even be something to do with the wedding,” Savannah said, as she looked up the driveway, sure enough Jen could see a man approaching on foot in the distance.

“What about you guys?” Jen looked from Bertrand and then back to Maxwell. “How was the Bertrand Beaumont Bachelor Bash?”

Bertrand sighed. “The things we’ve seen.. the perils we’ve endured.. you’d hardly believe it!”

“It’s been tough for him, for sure,” Drake acknowledged. “But he’s come through a better man.”

“He came to serenade me last night,” Savannah said dreamily.

“I took my guitar,” Maxwell said proudly to Jen.

“That’s the cutest,” Jen agreed.

“That was not such an ordeal, but the great outdoors presented a number of trials..”

“Which Bertrand accomplished one after the other,” Rick proclaimed.

Bertrand beamed. “After surviving in the wilderness, I feel ready to face anything…”

“Then how about facing a shower before tonight’s rehearsal dinner?” giggled Savannah. “I love you, but you all smell like woodsmoke.”

Jen sniffed Maxwell. “Ugh. Savannah’s right. It’s not entirely unattractive, but… probably not fitting of best-manly duties.”

He didn’t reply; she looked up at him in concern. He was staring past her, shock and horror in his eyes, mouth agape.

“Maxwell? Babe? What’s wrong?”

He could only manage one word in response. “Bertrand…”

They all turned to look in the direction that Maxwell was staring, and soon Bertrand’s face was similarly warped in an incredulous stare.

“What is it?” Jen begged, but her only answer was the silver-haired, smartly dressed man, holding a suitcase, walking towards them.

“Hey, wasn’t he on our flight?” Hana asked Jen.

“He was… he was sat just opposite us, wasn’t he?” Jen looked pleadingly at Maxwell, but he was still frozen.

The man was now very close, and he placed down his case next to Drake’s truck, and held his arms open dramatically.

“Hello, Bertrand. Hello, Maxwell.”

A little whimper came out of Maxwell’s voice. “Oh. My. God.”

“Father?” Bertrand called out.

“Now, now, boys. Is that any way to greet your old man?”

Jen looked from Maxwell, to Bertrand, to the newcomer, and then again. Surely not… wasn’t he… how could he….?

“That’s right!” He bound towards them all dramatically. “They said it was impossible.. but nothing’s truly impossible for Barthelemy Beaumont! Or should I say Barthelemy Beaumont Senior.. I understand there’s a new kid in town! But I digress. I’m here for my best boys.”

Maxwell stuttered awkwardly. “Dad! I mean.. Father! I mean.. sir?”

Bertrand was equally dumbstruck. “I.. You’re.. What are you doing here?”

“Your.. your dad’s alive?” Drake was bamboozled.

Barthelemy looked annoyed. “I know I’ve been gone for a while, Bertrand, but have you been telling everyone I’m dead?”

“What? No! Of course not!” Jen had never seen Bertrand so pale.

Drake looked from Rick to Maxwell. “It’s just.. the way you always talked about him in the past tense! And he was never here! I just assumed..”

Maxwell sighed, and took Jen’s hand. She gave it a supportive squeeze. “It’s not like it’s an easy thing to talk about, Drake.”

“Maxwell and Bertrand’s father has been unwell for many years,” Rick explained.

Maxwell nodded, looking sadly from Drake to Hana. “Dad was in a coma for so long, and the doctors said he’d probably never wake up.. eventually the doctors couldn’t do much except keep him breathing..”

Drake looked at Jen. “Did you know, Jones?”

She nodded, but was beginning to feel just as overwhelmed with shock as her husband was.

“Well, I’m back, and I couldn’t be more alive. Or more glad to see all of you!” He began to greet them all. “Drake, Rick.. how you’ve grown! Miss Savannah, my future daughter in law and mother of House Beaumont’s heir… You’re even lovelier than your reputation…”

“Th..thank you..” Savannah exchanged an awkward glance with Jen. This had to be every bit as weird for her as it was for Jen.

“I take it you’re the accomplished Lady Hana Lee?”

“Yes,” said Hana lightly. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Well, we met on the plane. I had an inkling who you were. I’m so sorry I didn’t introduce myself then. I just didn’t want to ruin the surprise! And so this..” He stepped towards Maxwell and Jen. “This must be my famous daughter in law. My goodness. Maxwell really outdid himself, huh?” He nudged Maxwell. “I never thought you had it in you, boy. Anyway, as I wasn’t here for your wedding, please allow me to officially welcome you to House Beaumont with open arms.”

Jen looked at Maxwell first, although he was still as ashen as his brother, and then extended a hand to Barthelemy, which he shook politely.

“A pleasure. Your Grace.” He turned around and looked out across the yard, and then turned back to the group. “I must admit being here with all of you beats lying in a hospital bed, hands down!”

Maxwell turned to Jen, excitedly. “We kinda gave up hope a long time ago. The fact that he’s here now.. it’s a miracle!” He went to his father, and pulled him into an enthusiastic hug.

Jen was more sceptical. “So you woke up from your coma right before Bertrand’s wedding? Doesn’t it take a long time to recover from that kind of thing?”

“Yes, indeed,” said Barthelemy, as Maxwell released him. “I’ve spent months in rehab, recovering in secret, just so I could stand here before you today!”

Months? How many months? She still wasn’t buying this. “Don’t you think you should have called Maxwell and Bertrand as soon as you woke up?”

“What, and ruin the surprise? I wanted to see the looks on their faces. And, may I just say…” He put one hand on Maxwell who was standing beside him, and another on Bertrand, who was still statuesque. “It was worth the wait.”

Bertrand spoke. “I’m happy to see you well, but I wish you would have told us the moment you were awake..”

Barthelemy held on to Bertrand’s shoulder. “Then you would’ve dropped everything to come and get me. I couldn’t do that while you were busy planning your wedding. And why call when I could simply tell you in person? Besides, I wanted it to be clear I was healed.”

“Ah.. it seems pretty clear…” Bertrand stammered.

“Son, I know it was a lot to ask for you to become the head of House Beaumont when you did, and you shouldered the burden all these years.. but now that I’m back, I’m ready to lend a hand.”

Bertrand’s expression changed. “You are? But I’ve been..”

“Working too hard for much too long. Now you and Maxwell can focus more on your beautiful new families, while I handle the minor details.”

“I rather think I’ve been handling them well enough…”

Jen stepped up beside Bertrand. “I think Bertrand’s done a wonderful job running House Beaumont.”

“Thank you for that,” said Bertrand.

“Of course he has,” laughed Barthelemy. “He wouldn’t be a Beaumont otherwise. This has nothing to do with my son’s competence.”

“There was a reason I took over, if you recall, Father. The money…”

Barthelemy’s expression soured. “Must we bring this up?”

Drake was right on the money. “Is this about why House Beaumont’s been in debt all these years?”

“Yes,” sighed Barthelemy. “I’m ashamed to say that when my health began to decline, I squandered a large part of our fortunes on foolish miracle cures that proved false. Boys, I know I’ve let you down in the past, but I want to make amends.”

Maxwell was still by Barthelemy’s side, and put his arm around him. “You didn’t let us down. You were sick! Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“Maybe so, but..” Barthelemy turned back to his older son. “Bertrand, please give what I said some thought. It’d do you good. But for now, I just want to enjoy being with my family. You know I love a good wedding!”

 _Ouch._ Jen looked at Maxwell, seeing the hurt in his eyes. If Barthelemy had been recovering for months, why had he not reached out sooner? He _must_ have heard about their wedding. Had he been awake for it?

“This is fantastic!” Savannah stepped towards them. “I never thought I’d get a chance to have my father in law in my life!”

“I know your father passed away far too early,” Barthelemy told Savannah. “I would never dare to try to take his place, but if there’s anything this poor substitute can provide.. just name it. I’m here for you, Savannah. Now and always.”

Savannah seemed a little shocked. “Oh! That’s so kind of you..”

“And now I should let you all get on with your plans.” He picked up his case. “I’m sure you’re busy with the wedding..”

Maxwell rushed over to him. “But you just came back! You can’t go now!”

Savannah nodded in agreement. “The rehearsal is today, but you’re family! You should be there too!”

Barthelemy looked at Bertrand intensely. “It would be my deepest honour.”

Jen eyed Barthelemy suspiciously. She wasn’t sure what she thought of him yet. There was something fishy about his sudden return. She knew she would get to the bottom of it eventually, but for now she had to be careful. For the sake of his son; clearly not his favourite son, but obviously overwhelmed with every imaginable emotion right now at the sudden reappearance of his father. She needed to put him first, be strong for him, as she could see this would have the potential to shake him to the core.

At that, he started jumping up and down like a bottle of pop that was about to fizz open. “Yay! Dad is back! We’ve got so much to catch up on!”

Barthelemy glanced at Maxwell. “Oh, no need, son. I’ve read your book. Good read, by the way. You must have worked with a great ghost-writer.”

And that was when Jen decided she didn’t like her father in law.


	9. Senses spinning in spirals (First time unable to leave home)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new piece! Set in the safehouse, the morning after the Costume Ball. 
> 
> (I had thought about being really relevant and doing a COVID-19 isolation but it feels too far in their future - I haven't really got up to date with canon yet)

She woke up with a jump, sitting up straight in the bed.

_Where am I? Am I safe? Where’s.._

_Maxwell._

He was stirring due to her sudden movement; his arms angled upwards from where she had inadvertedly escaped from them due to her abrupt relocation, his eyes not quite open yet.

_But I didn’t want to escape._

He rubbed his eyes, and sat up next to her, seemingly sensing her panic, and soothing it effortlessly with a gentle stroke to her face.

“Good morning, little blossom.”

She could feel herself glowing. “You stayed with me..”

“Course I did, silly.”

She pulled him into a tight hug, and started to sob. And then she realised that this was exactly how she’d spent her last wakeful moments before eventually falling into an exhausted sleep here, in his arms, in a double bed in the single bedroom of the safehouse, several hours ago.

And then she remembered why she was sobbing. And she sobbed some more.

“Oh… Constantine… he’s….”

“Hey… it’s okay Jen. I’m here. We’re both safe. I promise.”

“I love you, Maxwell,” she sniffled into his shoulder.

“And I love you too.”

And that was when her memory jumped back just a little further.

She pulled away, and gave him a longing look. “I just remembered what else happened last night.”

He blushed. “Well, funnily enough, that’s something I’m never gonna forget.”

She closed her eyes and savoured the memory of his body against hers; the movement of his fingers; the scent and the warmth of his skin, and the overwhelming feeling of truly being one with him. Of course she’d known he wouldn’t disappoint. What she hadn’t known was that it could be that good.

His leg brushed against hers, and set her senses spinning in spirals again.

“Shall I go and see what’s going on?” he asked, getting out of bed. He quickly pulled on his trousers and grabbed his white dress shirt, beginning to button it up. She watched with interest.

“Come back though,” she said.

“Will do.” He kissed her gently on the lips, before heading out of the room.

She glanced down at the floor, seeing his squid suit thrown down, bow tie and all, in a heap below her. She smiled.

But then she remembered the way the wall had crumbled, and the ceiling had collapsed, and the clouds of dust threatening to envelop her and Rick…

She remembered shouting for Maxwell, calling his name…

Bastien had got her out of there; she’d stumbled out of the palace doors and desperately collapsed into Maxwell’s arms; and then she, Maxwell and Hana had hopped into Drake’s car and headed here on Bastien’s instructions. It wasn’t the same safehouse. It was a different one. But, it was similar.

And, quite appropriately, she’d never felt more safe than she had last night, falling asleep in her fiance’s arms for the very first time. Well, the second time. But the first time was in the before-time.

The door opened and he came back in. He closed it, and leant back against the door.

“Hey. We have to stay here a bit longer. Mara’s going to come for us this afternoon. Till then, we’re grounded.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “This is serious déjà vu.”

“At least we’re together this time,” he told her. “The last time we were here, it killed me.”

“Is this the same place you were last time?”

“Yeah. I slept on the floor down there with Chance.” He pointed to where his suit lay. “Hana had the bed. I don’t know what I’d have done without her, that night, you know.”

Jen smiled. “I’m glad she was there for you. I had Drake to keep me sane. But I don’t ever want to relive that experience.”

“Same.”

The smell of something tasty came wafting under the door. “We got food?”

“Hana’s on it,” he explained.

“Of course she is,” Jen said with a smile. “I’m guessing it’s too much to ask if she brought me a change of clothes again this time?”

He smiled bashfully. “Well that was my idea last time, and we all got rushed away quickly… so I think you’re stuck with the phoenix dress… although it is lovely…”

She wasn’t having that. She stood up and walked towards him, putting her hands on his shoulders. “Well, that might be true, but I don’t necessarily have to be stuck _in_ it, given that we’ve got nowhere to go and time to kill..”

“Mmhmm..” That tortured, frustrated expression she was used to whenever they got this close was gone; it was replaced with an eager smirk which she found incredibly sexy.

“And I _was_ promised a repeat performance last night… but then with everything that happened….” She sighed. She’d somehow managed to kill the moment again. “Oh, but then I can’t stop thinking about what happened to Constantine..”

“Hey, I get that,” he said soothingly, putting his hands around her waist, giving her tingles. “You don’t see someone get killed right in front of you every day. I’m just… oh Jen, it doesn’t bear thinking about… I couldn’t have… if anything had happened to you….”

His stare was so intense; and their bond was stronger than ever now.

She kissed him furiously, and fumbled with his buttons; he was by now an expert in removing her phoenix dress and it was soon on the floor with his squid suit, for the third time in twenty-four hours. 


	10. Reader, I'm gonna marry her (Going official on social media)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another new piece, just after the engagement announcement at the Five Kingdoms festival.

Even in the wake of the video, the crowd applauded when Jen and Rick waved their farewell. Jen stepped off the podium to resounding cheers. Before she could re-join Maxwell, Bertrand came running up to Jen.

“I saw what happened, that was a public relations miracle!” he said, proudly.

“It was a close call,” she admitted. “I’m just glad the crowd listened.”

“We were lucky this time, but this only confirms what I’ve been thinking since the attack,” he said. “Until this crisis is over, you need a new press secretary.”

“I can handle this on my own,” Jen said. “I can do this, really. I don’t want you breaking the bank for me.”

“I’m sorry, Jen, but I consider it a necessary investment,” Bertrand said, adamantly. “I think I know the perfect candidate.. but I may need to do some convincing. I’ll report back once I’ve made some preliminary phone calls.”

She nodded, watching as he wandered off, getting his phone out. She felt touched that he still felt that way, still wanted to oversee things, still saw her as representing his house. He could so easily have cut her off, now that her becoming queen was out of the equation. It made her hopeful that he would come to terms with things.

“Has he gone?” She felt Maxwell’s hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, you’re safe,” she said, leaning into him.

“You did great,” he said. “Sorry it took me so long to get here. People keep stopping me to offer their stunned congratulations.”

She laughed. “Well, _everyone_ knows now. That means I can do this whenever I like.” She leant in to kiss him gently.

“I think I can live with that.”

“Good, because I’m going in again…” Giggling, she leant to kiss him once more, and went for it this time.

When she finally pulled away, he had closed eyes and a massive grin on his moist lips. “Mmm. Hey. You know what we need to do now?” He opened his eyes.

Her eyes widened hopefully. “Just tell me.” She placed her hands around his waist.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “We need to make this ­Pictagram-official!”

She shook her head. “Oh, Maxwell.. who even…”

“Hey, I have _nine hundred_ followers you know. They’ve all been watching what we’ve been up to over the last few months. Shouldn’t we give them the scoop before they read it in the press?”

She nodded. “Okay, okay. How do you want to do this?”

“I think we need a selfie of you with a ring on it,” he said.

She produced her finger eagerly. “You just want to show off your twig-work skills.”

“Well, it serves two purposes, don’t’cha think?”

Jen tried to take a picture. “No, it doesn’t look right.. I need you in it too..”

He leant in and held onto her, excitedly. “Ohmygod, this is such a big moment..”

“Bigger than the moment just now when I announced our engagement to the whole of Cordonia?”

“You have no idea. I have followers in the UK, Jen! And America. Ooh, and Luxembourg..”

She glanced at him. “Who do you know in Luxembourg?”

“I don’t know anyone in Luxembourg. I do get a lot of people thinking they’ve stumbled upon some sort of male strip show page. Eventually they complain about the lack of nudity and leave.”

She laughed. “Well, when you have such a ridiculous handle as _thefullbeaumonty,_ I don’t know what you expect!”

She took the snap, and showed it to him.

“Perfect. PERFECT. Right. Let me get it on the gram right now, before everyone sees us all over their newsfeeds courtesy of Ana and Donnie.” He took his phone back, and tapped buttons furiously for about thirty seconds. “There. Done.”

Jen’s own phone beeped. He’d set her up with a notification to his Pictagram long ago. She produced it from her little bag, and saw the picture pop up. “Awww.” She read the text below.

_Reader, I’m gonna marry her! @realladyjenjones #jenandmaxwell #littleblossom #favouriteperson #futuremrsbeaumont #luckiestmanintheworld #yesimadethatring_

She looked up at him. “That’s the cutest! I’m sure your nine hundred followers are gonna go wild!”

“Oooh…” He was scrutinising his own screen. “I seem to have _eleven_ hundred now…. ohmygosh, I never realised the effect marrying a Duchess would have on my own fame! How many followers do you have anyway?”

“I don’t know, I never really looked, I don’t really post much, still getting used to how it works..” She had a quick look. “Oh. Nine _thousand_.”

“That’s fighting talk, that is,” he said with a glare.

“Fight me then,” she grinned.

He put his phone away, then put a hand on her arm. She blocked it. He brought a leg closer. She did the same. Next thing, his lips were on her neck. She wasn’t going to fight that.


	11. No-one else I'd rather be dancing with (First dance)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jen has an epiphany :)

“It would be unspeakably rude for Prince Rick to not dance this waltz with the hostess,” Hana said, picking up on Jen’s disappointment.

“I guess that’s what happens when you have home court advantage,” Jen agreed, although she was very conscious of how inseparable Rick and Olivia had appeared over the last few days.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and heard a familiar voice. “That doesn’t mean you won’t get to dance though.”

Turning, she found Maxwell standing in front of her. “In fact, Lady Jen.. may I have the honour of this waltz?”

She smiled widely. “It is I who would be honoured, Lord Maxwell.”

He bowed to her. “My lady. Shall we?”

“Let’s do this,” she said with a grin.

Maxwell did a funny little shimmy. “Dance, dance, dance!”

“Would Bertrand approve of that?” she asked him.

“Er.. I mean.. Lady Jen. Let us dance, dance, dance…”

Laughing, she took Maxwell’s hand, and together the two of them became part of the loose circle forming on the dance floor. Maxwell put one hand on her waist, and raised her hand in a classic ballroom pose. Suddenly, she noticed that expression of panic on his face again.

“Oh god, wait a second, do you even know the Cordonian Waltz?”

“Not exactly,” she said with a gentle smile. “A little training would’ve been nice..”

“Sorry, I knew I was forgetting something.. I know Bertrand would never have neglected to mention it..”

“But if he were here,” she pointed out, “I’d be stuck dancing with him, and we’d be having much less fun.”

“True. But the waltz…”

“Hey, we’ll get through it together, right?”

“Right!” he said, as the music picked up. Jen moved forward, but Maxwell stepped forward too, his foot stepping onto hers as they collided.

“Whoops, sorry..” she said, realising her error.

“Jen!” he said, seemingly a little flummoxed. “Let me just..” He moved so that the two of them were both dancing successfully, if not quite gracefully, down the length of the room with the other couples.

Jen tried her best to follow his lead, but was a little distracted by Olivia just ahead of her, grasping the Prince’s hands and gliding into an elegant spin.

“Hope you’re ready for this..” Maxwell said, with a twinkle in his eye.

He grasped both of Jen’s hands and began to spin her around. As he continued to swing her around in time to the waltz, she began to relax, forgetting about Rick and Olivia, forgetting about anyone else in the room other than herself and Maxwell. She laughed, quite comfortable with him now, feeling happy and alive. 

He caught her eye. “Now, here we go.. last move..”

Suddenly, he twirled her so that she was facing out, so that she had her back to him as he drew her surprisingly close. At the feel of his arms around her, her whole body tingled, and her knees felt weak.

“You okay?” he asked her.

“Hell yeah,” she gasped. Quite suddenly and unexpectedly, she was _so much more_ than okay. She looked at him with new eyes.

He laughed anxiously. “I bet you’re itching to get your chance to get this close to Rick…”

She shook her head, and whispered in his ear. “Maxwell.. there’s no-one else I’d rather be dancing with right now.”

He drew away from her abruptly. “Jen…”

“What?”

He looked mortified. “It’s better if you don’t talk like that.”

She was hurt. “It’s not like anyone can hear us.”

“No, but if they did.. You’re a suitor. You should always be thinking of Rick.”

Jen pulled a sulky face at him. “Well, perhaps Olivia shouldn’t have chosen this waltz…”

“You’ll get your chance, Jen.”

As they continued to sway together, she began to feel sick with embarrassment. This was _Maxwell_. What had she been thinking? Well. If he brought this up again later, she’d have to tell him she was trying to make Rick jealous. That would work. But something didn’t sit right with her as to the way dancing with Maxwell like this was making her feel. Or had she just drunk too much? Probably.

Several beats later, Maxwell let go of her hands and gently pushed her forward. “Time to switch partners. You’ll go through the same steps again. Try to remember what they are, and you’ll be fine.”

Jen made the glide forward, and on the next strain of the waltz found herself in Rick’s arms.

“Why, hello there, Lady Jen,” he said politely, with a charming beam.

She returned the smile. “Fancy running into you.”

“You mean, on the dance floor at a private ball during a choreographed waltz?”

“Well, when you put it that way, it seems inevitable I’d run into you..” she said, pausing to make sure she definitely stepped back, not forwards at that point. “But to be fair, I haven’t seen a lot of you lately.”

“True,” agreed Rick. “I’ve been a little preoccupied. Olivia is the hostess, and I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t spend time with all of the women here.”

“I understand that,” Jen said, relaxing into the dance, gazing at his handsome face. “You’re not just marrying for yourself. It’s for the Crown.”

“Yes. No matter how I feel. Well, we’ll have to see what happens in the coming weeks,” he teased.

As he led her into the twirl and held her against him, he lowered his mouth to her ear, and whispered into it. “But Jen, you should know, you are special to me.”

He spun her out of the move in time to the music, and she held his gaze, waiting for the warm, fuzzy feeling that she’d just felt to set in, but she was still waiting when Olivia eventually glided into her field of vision. “ _Ahem_ , Lady Jen, I believe he’s my partner again now.”

Jen reluctantly let go of the Prince’s hand, and danced back to a welcoming Maxwell.

“Well, this waltz seems a little scandalous for the ballroom..” she eventually said, not really knowing how else to restart a conversation after the stupid thing she’d said before.

“The Cordonian Waltz _is_ a romantic dance,” he said, his wide blue eyes deliberately focused behind her, not on her. “In the old days, it used to be that this waltz was the only way couples could flirt..”

“I can see why,” she sighed, as Maxwell span her again. “It’s very.. intimate..”

He was quick to change the subject. “Watching you two together just then.. I can tell that Rick cares for you a lot.”

“Yeah.. but our relationship is so strange. It’s not like he can just sweep me off my feet and carry me out of here, is it?”

“When you’re royalty, the rules are different,” he said, looking across at Rick, a forlorn look on his face.


	12. As rough as a drunk piece of sandpaper (First time one of them gets ill)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new piece based on a scene in The Royal Heir.
> 
> This one might not be for you if you have an aversion to sickness, pregnancy related stories, or Spandau Ballet :) 
> 
> (Extracts from "Chant No. 1" and "Gold" by Spandau Ballet, lyrics by Gary Kemp)

“Those pregnancy books weren’t kidding about morning sickness, were they?” Maxwell sighed. Today had not been a fun day. He had mainly spent it sitting on the floor of their en-suite bathroom, holding Jen’s hair back as she puked into the toilet.

She sighed, and looked at him. “But it stopped being morning hours ago! Maybe I just.. ate some bad.. ughh.. fish?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Three days in a row?”

She reached for the glass of water that he was keeping topped up for her. “I’ll be fine! Nothing to worry about! I’m totally…”

At this her expression snapped back to that pained face that he’d seen so often over the last few days. He hated seeing her like this, so sad, so drained – and let’s face it, it was mainly his fault she was like this. He gently rubbed her back while the wave of nausea passed.

Afterwards, she groaned. “Why did you let me agree to this whole thing, Maxwell? Whyyyy?”

“I seem to think you were just as up for it as I was…”

“I mean, I love you.. and I love our baby, but this is the _worst thing you’ve ever done to me_!”

“You weren’t complaining at the time,” he said with a smirk.

She smiled gently. “I often wonder which time it was, you know.”

“Jeez, Jen. What was the timetable back then? Three times a day? It’s anyone’s guess really..”

She giggled. “Remember when we took a break on the road trip and we snuck off for a _walk_..?”

“Phew. I’m still glad we didn’t get caught. Can you imagine that? Duke and Duchess of Cordonia arrested on public indecency charges..”

“You didn’t care at the time, babe. And anyway, we had a good excuse. The pressure to produce Cordonia’s heir was clouding our judgement..”

“More like how sexy you looked in those little shorts was clouding my judgement…”

She sighed. “They were good times.”

“They were. But, this sickness will pass, and we’ll have more good times before the baby arrives, I promise. It’s like I read in the books. Your libido will soar during the second trimester…”

"You hope,” she said. “Ugh….”

She pulled away and threw up again, coughing and spluttering afterwards. “Ugh. I’m sorry, Maxwell.”

“Hey. I take my role as your birth partner very seriously, you know. I’m not leaving your side through any of this. And like I said, it’ll get easier after a few more..”

“Days?”

“ _Months_.”

“Ughhh…” She drained her glass of water. “Know what I could do with? Something to eat, so I can actually bring something back up.”

“Your wish is my command,” he said, jumping up. “I’ll go and see what Christopher can do. Can I get you anything else? More towels? Fresh water? Bouquet of red roses?”

She smiled. “I’m good with some toast or something. And thanks, babe. You don’t have to fuss over me like this..”

“Of course I do.” He peeked around the door at her. “Anything for my favourite people.”

She looked at him, seemingly not getting it for a second of two, then her face lit up. “Aw, Maxwell..”

“Be right back.”

He rushed along the upstairs corridor, and was met halfway along by Christopher, who had an uncanny ability to subtly appear whenever his services were required.

“Ah, Your Grace. How is Her Grace?”

He laughed. “Not gonna lie, she’s as rough as a drunk piece of sandpaper hanging out round the back of the bar at the end of the night.”

Christopher raised an eyebrow. “An interesting simile, Your Grace.”

"Thank you, Christopher. She wants _all_ the toast, some water, and anything else you can suggest.” He pulled his phone out of his shirt pocket. “Hey, have we got any ginger biscuits?”

“I believe we have, Your Grace. I took the liberty of ordering a number of items I thought might be helpful at this stage.”

“Really? What else have you ordered?”

“In good time, Your Grace. Anyway, I will get onto it straight away. You go and look after the mother of the royal heir. Far more important.”

Maxwell glared at Christopher. “You mean, the mother of _my child_ , right?”

“Of course, Your Grace.”

Maxwell turned on his heels and headed back. As he passed his music room, he had an idea. He popped in, grabbed his guitar, and continued along the corridor, back into their bedroom. He put the guitar down on the bed.

“Hey.”

She was still cradling the toilet like her life depended on it, but she managed to look in his direction as he approached the door of the en-suite. “Heyyyy.”

“Christopher’s on it. Toast and ginger biscuits coming up.”

“That man deserves a medal. Thanks, Maxwell.”

He threw on his best over-the-top hurt expression. “Hey, what about me? Don’t I deserve one?”

“You did this to me, remember?” He could tell she was hiding a smile.

“Very well, I will redeem my medal once you have given birth to the beautiful bouncing Maxwell junior in there…” He kissed her on the cheek. “And not a minute sooner.”

“I’m sure there are things you can do to try and make it up to me when I’m feeling a bit less like I could throw up an entire buffet of food that I haven’t even eaten..”

He cocked his head. “There was shrimp on the buffet that you didn’t even eat, right?”

“Ugh, shhh…”

“Oh, okay. Maybe if I do this?”

He headed over to the bed, picked up his guitar, and began to strum. “Thought I could serenade you both. Any requests?”

He heard her giggle before he saw her smile. “Surprise me.”

Oh what? It had to be something feelgood. And meaningful. But what? Aaaarghh. This was too much pressure. That was it.

“I don’t need this pressure on, I don’t need this pressure on…” 

She giggled. “Aw, I’m sorry… hey, isn’t that Spandau Ballet?”

“Of course. I love a new romantic power ballad, me…” With that, he launched into the chorus of Gold. “You’re indestructible, always believe that.. you are GOLD!”

“Gold!” cried Jen in response, the smile now lodged back on her face. He couldn’t help but smile too. Mission accomplished.


	13. The wake-up call (first extended absence)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New piece - insert to the story in The Royal Heir when Jen is in Auvernal.

“Wake up little blossom… I know I’m not actually here, but… I thought you could still do with a wake-up call from your amazing hubby…”

Jen woke up to the phone alarm, very disorientated. She wasn’t in her own bed. She was in a clean, white bed in a clean, white room. She stretched out her arm and turned to reach for Maxwell. But he wasn’t. No matter, he often got up first, to bring her a drink in bed.

But wait, that was his voice…

“Wake up little blossom… I know I’m not actually here, but…”

Oh yeah. He recorded a voice alarm for me. He thought he was so clever.

And then she remembered he was on the other side of the world, and her heart sank.

“Wake up little blossom….”

She grabbed her phone to silence it, from where it was charging on the bedside cabinet. As she did so, she caught her arm against the bedsheets. Yowch. She looked at it, where the hot stones had been placed on her arm yesterday. It looked angry, far angrier than it had yesterday.

Shrugging, she silenced the alarm (hey, she was gonna award him 10 out of 10 for this idea, despite her initial confusion) and tried to remember how the time difference would work. She and Hana were due to fly back to Texas very early this morning, and so by the time they got back late this evening, it would be mid-morning in Texas. It would be late in the evening over there now; Bertrand’s bachelor party would be in full swing no doubt.

She picked up her phone to see the message thread. She’d facetimed Maxwell at bedtime, obviously. It had been a later one than she had hoped, and it had been mid-afternoon over there when she’d spoken to him.

Her eyes lingered on the last message. “I love you little blossom. Stay safe. See you tomorrow. Miss you more.” Followed by the obligatory emojis. This was tough. For a solid year, they’d seen each other on a daily basis, leaving each other’s side reassuringly rarely. Now she’d already gone longer than 24 hours without him. It was the longest they’d _ever_ been apart.

She sent a message. “Thanks for the wake-up call.”

No reply after a few minutes, and the message wasn’t read. She sighed. No doubt he had no signal, or his phone battery was flat. She still wasn’t sure exactly what he’d been planning for Bertrand’s bachelor party.

She sent one more message. “I miss yooooooooooouuuuu.”

Sighing, she got out of bed. Time for a quick shower. She couldn’t wait to get on that plane.

There was a knock on her door. She quickly threw on a robe, and answered it, expecting to see Hana.

“Might have known you’d be the last up.”

“Olivia, hey. What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you don’t miss your flight. And just mentioning that I’m heading back to Cordonia.”

“Aw, but the wedding?”

“I’ll be back for the wedding, Jen. Just got some..” She looked a little distant. “Stuff to sort first.”

“Stuff you can tell your bestie about?”

“No. Come on. Get yourself up and dressed. You can eat on the plane. Anyway, you must be desperate to get back to your peculiar husband.”

She giggled. She knew Olivia’s contempt for Maxwell was fabricated these days. “Yep. This is true.”

“Alright. Well, I’ll see you at the wedding. Until then, just… watch your back, okay?”

She reached to hug her, amused at her horrorstruck expression. “Aw, thanks Olivia. And thanks for last night. We really appreciated having you around.”

“I did it for Cordonia, not for you and Hana. But, I’ll accept your thanks.” She smiled at Jen, and Jen returned the smile. She knew that in Oliviaspeak, this meant _it means the world to me that you appreciated having me around._

“No sign of Isabella this morning?” she asked Olivia.

“Nope. No doubt she’ll be snoring long after you’ve escaped this godawful place. Get back to Maxwell.”

Jen nodded, as Olivia strutted away down the corridor, her head held high, her shoulders lowered. She was so cool. Jen had to wonder though whether the real reason Olivia was delaying heading over to Texas for the wedding had something to do with Rick, after what she’d confided in her about last night. She shrugged, and headed for a shower.


	14. Wanna get closer? (First fight)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New fully original piece from the early chapters of The Royal Heir...

There was an unusual silence in the limo as they drove to their obstetrician appointment; a tension that Maxwell wasn’t really used to (not when he was with Jen, anyway) and didn’t really understand. It was almost as if he’d done something wrong; but he knew he couldn’t have, he knew how exciting all of today’s developments had to be for Jen, it was all just what she’d always wanted. And, he had to admit, he was so much more excited about it than he thought he’d be.

Maybe she was nervous. Yeah, that had to be it. Or tired? They’d had a lot of travelling followed by a gruelling meeting. Or maybe it was the anti-climax of being back home after their obscenely enjoyable honeymoon. He closed his eyes and he was back on his beach towel, with his toes in that warm sea, sipping cocktails and gazing at the sexiest woman in the world as she lay beside him in her bikini, wondering how long he could endure without uttering his latest chat-up line, _wanna get closer?_

He opened his eyes again, and she was still there – no bikini, no cocktail. Her expression was oddly cool.

He reached out an arm. “Wanna get closer?”

“No, Maxwell. I don’t.”

“Oh?” He reared back. That wasn’t her customary answer to that question.

Her expression was pure anger; he’d obviously seen this expression many times, but… never directed at him… not that he could remember anyway….

“Jen? What is it? You’re scaring me?”

“Five minutes? That was all it took. For you to make a decision on our behalf. And don’t pretend you didn’t. You and Rick _shook on it_ , for God’s sake!”

“Woah, woah, woah. Reverse back a little. I thought you were the one who wanted to have a kid straight away anyway?”

“Oh I _did_ , Maxwell. But I wanted you to want one too.”

“And I do! I wouldn’t have agreed to it otherwise. You convinced me…”

“Oh, this is hilarious. _I_ convinced you? I rather think it was more _Rick_ who convinced you.”

“When we had that chat at the start of the honeymoon, you were so excited…”

“But even then, it was going to be _soon. Maybe._ I still thought you’d want to make me wait at least a year or so… you said you didn’t want to rush into anything….”

“Uhhh…” He could see where this was going now, and he deserved this.

“And along comes Rick _. Hey Maxwell, fancy getting Jen up the duff on my behalf?_ And you stick your hand up. _Of course, Rick, whatever you say_!” She was furious. “What about what _I_ think of this whole thing?”

He raised his voice, trying to get his point across. “I thought you’d be glad…”

She was shouting now. “What, glad that you’ll have a baby for _him_ , but not for _me?_ You really can’t see it, can you.”

“Can’t see what?”

“This is him _punishing_ us, Maxwell. This is him wielding his power over us, knowing we can’t say no because of the guilt we feel.. actually no, _I_ don’t feel any guilt towards him. Because of the guilt _you_ feel, right?”

He sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair.

“And don’t go running your fingers through your hair and making out like you’re all vulnerable over this,” she yelled. “You basically made the decision for us. What if I hadn’t wanted my child to have all this pressure on them? Have you even thought it all through?”

He looked at her sadly. He could see he was in an impossible position here. “I just wanted to help my friend.”

“Ha. More like you feel you owe him. You owe him _nothing_ , Maxwell..”

“And,” he interrupted her, “At the same time, I just wanted to give my wife the one thing she wants from me.”

“Not like _this_ , Maxwell.”

He laughed. “Is this our first argument? We don’t argue, Jen…”

“We don’t argue because I thought I’d married a considerate loving man who always put me first. I’m not so sure now.”

“Jen….” He held out a hand to her. She pushed it back. He felt sick.

The car slowed and stopped. She got out without waiting for him to open the door.

He sat there for a few minutes, in shock. She’d obviously been bottling this up all day, waiting for the chance to speak to him alone about it. This was not good. It made his heart physically hurt, and it hadn’t hurt like this for a while. The coronation ball, the safehouse, their wedding day. All times when he’d thought he was about to lose her.

_I can’t lose her now._


	15. All systems go (first reconciliation)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original piece from the early part of The Royal Heir, following on from the last...

The limo ride home was probably more uncomfortable than the limo ride there. Jen had kept her cool during the appointment, wanting to ensure they gave the impression of marital bliss to their new consultant. After all, up until Rick had shown his face on that beach two days ago, their marriage had been blissful.

When Rick had first asked if they’d consider having a child who he could appoint as Cordonia’s heir, she’d put it to the back of her mind. She would think about it, but she’d not wanted to spoil the last day of their honeymoon. They’d had the best day; enjoying the island with their friends, and then getting that last little bit of quality time with each other. She’d expected that they’d have a conversation on home turf when they got home, just the two of them. But Maxwell had obviously deemed that conversation unnecessary. He’d made the decision for them. And she didn’t like that.

All day she’d seethed silently. Through the flight. The announcement. The council meeting. By the time they’d finally got some one on one time, she was like a pressure cooker. And now, yes, she felt bad for exploding on him as she had. But she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. She hated that they’d had their first cross words. She just thought he’d get it. And, he hadn’t.

She glared at him from the other side of the seat. He was looking in her direction; a half smile on his face. He was playing with his top buttons of his shirt absentmindedly. She’d told him that she found that a turn-on; she was currently trying to decide if he was doing it on purpose. It was something he did when he was anxious. _You’re not gonna break me, Beaumont._

When the car arrived back at Valtoria, she opened the limo door herself (which she knew would throw him, although he was probably expecting it after last time) and led the way into the manor.

Christopher was there to greet them. “Your Graces. Your guests are in the drawing room.”

“Very good, Christopher,” said Jen, continuing through. She marched in, where she found Rick and Drake chatting animatedly with Hana.

Rick stood up to greet them. “How did it go?”

 _Of course he’s gonna want to know everything. My body is his property now. This is twisted._ “It went well, thanks, Rick. Dr Ramirez is optimistic. Apparently, we’re both in good health, so we just have to take our time, and not stress about things. Isn’t that right, babe?”

Maxwell had caught her up, and looked at her, bemused. “Uh… yeah. All systems go.”

She put her arm around him, and kissed him on the cheek. As angry as she was with him, she was not going to give Rick the satisfaction. “In fact, we thought we’d head up early. I’m sure you guys can probably understand why.”

Hana and Drake both coughed, and Rick’s face was uncomfortable. “But you haven’t eaten?”

“Heh, seems like Mrs Beaumont’s hungry for love,” Maxwell quipped. “And who am I to argue?”

 _My amazing husband. I can’t stay mad at you._ She smiled at him. “We can always get something later.” She turned back to their friends. “For now, we’ll leave you guys to it. See you all tomorrow, so we can all make the final preparations for the ball. Rick, Drake, Christopher will show you to your rooms.”

Rick nodded. “Tomorrow will be a busy day indeed. You two should make the most of your opportunity to relax.”

“Night, Jones, Maxwell,” Drake conceded.

“Sleep well,” Hana said cheerfully.

Jen turned to leave the room, and Maxwell followed obediently behind her. They were halfway up the stairs before he started to talk.

“Listen, Jen, I’m not sure where to start, but I think I’m gonna start with, did I say the right thing just now?”

“Oh, for definite,” she said.

“I mean, I know you’re mad at me, and I get why. I spent that whole journey back from the doctors going through everything in my head, and.. Jen, I should have discussed it with you, I get that now. I just feel like we’re on the same wavelength so much these days, that you would want to do this for the country and for your friends and… for yourself, more than anything… I know it’s what you want, and I want it now, too.”

She kept listening, saying nothing, as they approached their bedroom.

“Anyway, if it’s not what you want, it’s not too late to back out. Hey, we could either just make sure you don’t get pregnant yet, or we could face up to Rick and be honest about how you’re feeling about it all. I just.. I just want to make you happy, Jen. I just want us to bring a life into the world together. I’ve had time to get my head around it all now. And it might be bad timing with what Rick’s asked us to do, but… “ He sighed, as he entered the bedroom and closed the door.

She gazed at him, softening her expression. “Maxwell, shhhh.”

With that she advanced towards him, where he was standing near the door, and took both of his hands in hers. She gazed into his pools of blue, pools that looked a little turbulent right now.

“Jen. I am so sorry.” And she could see that he was.

“It’s okay. You’re just lucky that I do want to do this too. But, next time, before you make a big, life changing decision.. maybe just run it past me first?”

“You have my word,” he sighed, and she could see the relief washing over his face. “We’re in this together, right?”

She beamed at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Right. Good job really. I don’t think I could do this alone…”

“So, we’re doing this? We’re going to make a little prince or princess?”

“Bit late to back down now,” she teased. “The public expect.”

“Uh… well when you put it like that…”

She put her hands on his shoulders and slowly ran her fingers down his body. Once she’d got so far, she drew her own body closer to his, which was met with his obvious approval.

“Good to be home, isn’t it,” she sighed. “I mean, back to our own bed..”

“I think we should go see if it’s still as comfortable as it used to be, stat.”

“And I think that’s the best idea you’ve had all day.”


	16. Much more amenable (first fancy restaurant date)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new piece from the New York break in the Valtoria Diaries. I know it's short, not got much time today!

“You know what?” she said, as she perused the menu.

“What?”

She put the menu down, and looked up at him. “This is the first time we’ve eaten out, just the two of us.”

He looked as if he was pondering this for a moment. “Oh. _Oh crap_. It is, isn’t it?”

She giggled at his horror-struck expression. “Is that a problem? I mean, were you hoping to go through our entire married life without ever taking me out for dinner?”

He covered his face, clearly ashamed of himself. “Ouch,” she heard him mutter through his fingers. “That stings.”

“Babe, don’t worry.” She pulled one of his hands away from his face, revealing one staring blue eye. “It’s not like we’ve really had the opportunity, is it? We did squeeze that cinema date in, that one time…”

“Ahem, yeah… that was… fun…”

“Yeah. But remind me never to go to the cinema with a sex-starved date again. Could be embarrassing next time.”

“As if you’d ever allow that to happen now..”

“And think of all the other fun things we _have_ done.”

He released his other hand, his expression gooey. “Hmm. I’m thinking.”

“So, here’s to our first romantic meal at a fancy restaurant!” She leaned over to kiss him gently, then turned her attention back to the menu. “So, decided what you’re having?”

He was grinning. “Oh, yeah. I’ve decided.”

At that, the waitress came over. “Hello, I’ll be your waitress this evening, are you ready to order?”

Jen watched him look at her in amusement, then he turned his attention to their attendant. “Waitress, steaks for the table!” He tapped the table vigorously afterwards.

Jen tried her hardest not to laugh for the sake of the confused waitress, who was looking a little bemused. “I’m so sorry. He always does this.”

“Okay.. what sort of steak would you like for the table, sir…?”

He leapt up. “Now we’re talking! Hey, this one is much more amenable than the last one….”

Jen raised her eyebrows. “I think you’ll find her tolerance levels for you flicking peas at her will be much less than mine was. Also, she’s 100% less likely to go back to Cordonia with you and then marry you.”

He raised his hands, laughing. “Okay, okay. You got me. Well, I’m hoping you’ve got New York strip steaks here..”

“Of course, sir. And for you, madam?”

“Whatever he’s having,” Jen said with a giggle.


	17. My favourite thing you've ever said (first I love you)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From my novelisation. Pretty much all the dialogue is from the original story... too much of a crucial moment to mess about with!

Maxwell headed for the safe house door and with a nod to the others, she followed him. He led her outside and started to walk around the edge of the safe house, which was nestled up against the surrounding forest.

She took a few deep breaths, just grateful of the fact that he was there. She didn’t have the chance to say anything before he started to talk, uncharacteristically nervously. “Man, something like this.. an assassination attempt.. it makes me think maybe all this stuff with House Beaumont isn’t such a big deal after all.”

“All this stuff?”

“You know, the never-ending pursuit of fame and fortune, Bertrand’s legacy..”

She drew closer to him as they walked. “After everything that’s just happened, I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been worried about my reputation and clearing my name; all that stuff feels like a drop in the ocean now.”

He snapped a twig off a nearby branch and began to fiddle with it, looking down at the twig in his hands. “You know what I think? Whoever’s behind the assassination attempt is screwed. They may have tried to hurt us, but we’re the dynamic duo! Together we can avert any crisis.. though I’m just not sure _how_ yet.”

“We’ll figure something out,” she assured him. “We always do.”

They stopped when they reached the back of the house. The generator was tucked against the exterior wall, covered in leaves and branches. As Maxwell examined the machine, Jen glanced around and spotted a breaker box on the wall nearby.

“Well, looks like there’s a power button, but pushing it doesn’t do anything..”

She nudged him to get his attention. “What about the breaker?”

“Hmmm..” Maxwell opened the rusty metal door of the breaker box and examined the switches inside. He took a moment to read the instructions on the inside of the door. “Yeah, the one labelled generator isn’t lit up. Here..” He flipped the switch, but nothing happened.

“Maybe the power button now?” She reached over and pressed the button. The device immediately began to hum, and when she placed a hand on it, she could feel subtle vibrations. “Did that work?”

“I dunno, sounds like it did..” He smiled. “Look at us, first detectives, now electricians!”

“We’re almost as multi-talented as Hana!”

“Whoa, Jen, don’t let a couple of successes go to your head!”

Maxwell plucked another twig off of another branch and twisted it around the first one. She watched him curiously as his fingers fidgeted nervously. He was silent for a long time before he looked back at her. “Listen, Jen..”

“What’s up?”

“I was _so_ scared last night,” he said, shakily.

She nodded. “With assassins in the palace, I think everyone was.”

“No, not for my own safety. Well, I mean, partly for my own safety. But mostly… I was scared for _us_.”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

He looked away. “This thing we have together is so new, but somehow, when I’m with you, I know exactly where I need to be. Where I always needed to be. And the idea of losing that when I’ve _just_ found it..” He looked back at her, his eyes emotional again.

“But you didn’t lose me.”

“I know that now, but.. last night.. I was barely keeping it together.”

She reached for his hand. “I get it,” she said. “I was scared for us too.”

“You were?”

“Of course I was. I had just started to imagine what a future could look like for us, you know?”

He sniffed. “Yeah, I do.”

“If that had been snatched away..”

He sighed. “I kept thinking about everything I still want to do in my life. I’ve always had big dreams, but lately whenever I think about the places I want to go or the person I want to become.. you’re always by my side.”

“Aw, Maxwell..”

He squeezed her hand. “Jen.. I love you.”

She felt her heart pumping and her knees shaking, and the happiest smile on her lips. “That’s my favourite thing you’ve ever said. And, you’ve said a lot of great things..”

He was glowing. “If it always makes you smile like that, I’ll say it anytime you want.”

“I know it will. Every time. And, Maxwell? I love you too.” It just came out, just like that. She’d wanted to say it to him so many times.

Somehow, he looked surprised at her response. “You do?”

“How could you doubt it? You’re funny and caring, your enthusiasm can make even the most boring or frustrating activity sound fun. Sometimes just hearing your voice can turn a bad day into a good one. You make it impossible _not_ to love you.”

Maxwell glanced down at his hands, still fiddling with the twigs he plucked from the bushes. “Right. You know I said I wanted to take things slow..”

“Has something changed?”

He looked back at her. “I guess. _Everything’s_ changed. I’m usually a leap before I look kinda guy, but for some reason, with you, it was different. Special. I think I got in my own head and convinced myself that if I rushed into something I’d screw it up. But Jen..”

Suddenly, he knelt down on the lush forest ground, and presented her with a lovely ring of woven twigs. It felt to Jen as if the whole forest was spinning, as she tried to process what she was seeing and hearing.

“I never want to spend another night wondering if I’m going to see you in the morning. Jen Jones, will you marry me?”


	18. Tight schedule (First time shopping together)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, first time as a couple anyway... in that short and precious time that nobody else knew they were!
> 
> Sorry this is supershort, but... work and stuff. Hey it's the weekend now.

After touching down on the tarmac, the four of them hurried through the airport. As they went through duty free, Maxwell waved Jen over to one of the high-end stores lining the concourse. “Hold up, Jen. This is perfect.”

“Another boutique? We’re on a tight schedule, Maxwell..”

“That’s why you need a disguise!” He handed her an elegant but casual sweater and a pair of fashionable sunglasses. “We don’t want the paparazzi or the court knowing that we’re here. Give it a try!”

“As ever, you’re right,” she said, trying the outfit on. As she emerged in it, she realised that Drake and Hana were not in the shop with them. “What do you think?”

“You look beautiful,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“Aw, really?”

“You always look beautiful.”

She blushed. “You look pretty hot yourself, you know.”

He raised his eyebrows. “As you said, tight schedule…” He scuttled off, and she beamed. Life had always been fun with Maxwell around, but she had the feeling it was going to be so much more fun from now on, as she was going to get the chance to say all the little things she’d always wanted to say.


	19. This explains a lot (first time one of them breaks down in front of the other)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is taken from my series "Moments in-between"
> 
> Trivia - I wrote this scene as a response to that shock twist in The Royal Heir 1 - I was so angry, and this was my therapy.

The next morning, after a slightly more standard wake up call, Maxwell and Jen were sitting upright on Jen’s bed, leaning against the headboard. He was watching adoringly as she played with her ring, a grin fixed on her face.

“It was like, I really couldn’t believe it when I woke up this morning, and I had to check it was actually there, that yesterday morning actually happened?” 

He smiled, reaching out for her hand to brush his fingers against the twig ring. He was actually quite impressed with himself for its ad-hoc creation. “I will get you a real one, once everything gets back to normal. I seem to think once these briefings get going, we’re going to be in for a boring day.” They had a meeting scheduled for midday, and another for two, various updates about security and developments. Obviously at these meetings he’d have to come into contact with Bertrand, and Rick; at the moment he was choosing to stay out of their respective ways, just while the impact of their exciting news settled. Hence, hiding up in Jen’s room.

“No hurry. I love this. And I love you.” She leaned in for a kiss, he eagerly responded. Her lips tasted of sugar and fudge and all things nice, she smelt intoxicating. Afterwards, she leant against him, her look contemplative.

“What are you thinking?” he asked her after a few moments.

“I’m just wondering what my mom and dad would think if they could see me now,” she sighed, gazing into the distance.

He laughed. “They’d probably be yelling, ‘Nooooo, marry the King you idiot!’”

She laughed in response. “Good point.” She turned to face him. “But generally, I think they’d be quite happy with how things have turned out for me. I’ve got to see so much of the world, and now I’m going to be a Duchess, and marry the love of my life to boot. All thanks to you.” She tapped him on the nose. “I think they’d have liked you.”

“Were you more like your mom, or your dad?” he asked her, curious to discover more about her family.

“Um, well, I get my curls from Mom,” Jen admitted. “Dad was white, but he was a funny guy. Always making us laugh. I guess it’s right that girls go for men who are a bit like their dads, huh?”

“Ah, so that’s who you get your snarkiness from, is it?”

“Quite probably.” She sighed. “You know, I wish I’d brought my photo album with me. I could have shown you some pictures of them. I never thought, I could have popped to the storage place when we were back in New York and grabbed a few bits. But I think I had too much else going through my mind to even think about that, when we were last there.”

“There _was_ quite a lot going on,” he admitted with a contented sigh, running a hand through her beautiful black curly hair. She closed her eyes.

“What about you?” she asked him.

“Me? What about me?”

“What do you think your parents would make of all this? If they were still alive?”

He took a deep breath. This was probably the best moment he was ever going to get.

“What’s that look mean, Maxwell?”

“Thing is, Jen… my dad _is_ still alive.”

“WHAT?” She sat up, bolt upright, and gazed at him in shock.

“It’s not what it sounds like,” he said, feeling the pain gnawing away at the thought of his father.

“Your dad’s still alive and you were going to tell me… when? And.. where is he, even?”

“Listen, Jen..”

“And why do you and Bertrand always talk about him as if he were d…”

“Because he _might as well be_ , Jen.”

She went quiet, perhaps realising she was crossing a line. He could understand it. It must have been a shock for her. He looked away, trying to keep it together.

“Maxwell, I’m sorry. I’m just.. this is a bit of an unexpected plot twist. And you don’t have to tell me anything else if you don’t want to. But.. I’m listening.”

There was a long silence, and eventually he looked back at her. “Oh, Jen. I’m sorry too. I wanted to tell you, but.. it’s not the sort of thing that comes up in conversation, and it’s not easy for me to talk about, either. I..”

“Hey,” she said, putting her arm around him. He did his best to keep it together, but the emotion of the last forty-eight hours had taken its toll. She held him tightly for as long as it took for him to compose himself.

Eventually, he shuddered out a sigh and looked back up at her. “Oh, Jen, I’m sorry..”

“Don’t be,” she said. “We’re in this together from now on. You can tell me anything.”

He nodded. “I’ve wanted to tell you, ever since you first came to Beaumont Manor. My dad’s in a coma. He has been for fifteen years.”

“Oh.” She looked visibly thrown. “Oh. That’s awful.”

He nodded. “Yeah. He got ill when I was in my early teens. Bertrand had just gone off to college, he ended up coming back to help run the House. And Dad just got weaker, and weaker, until.. yeah.”

She looked at him with all the empathy he knew she would. “Do you.. visit him?”

He shook his head. “We do. But.. it just seems pointless. I haven’t been since I met you. I’ve not really had the chance, I guess.”

She took his hand. “Fifteen years.. that’s a long time to be in a coma. Don’t they eventually.. you know, switch off life support?”

Maxwell shrugged. “I guess they would have done under normal circumstances. But Dad was insistent we didn’t give up on him getting better. He’s not brain dead, just.. I mean, he _could_ wake up..”

Jen sighed, and squeezed his hand supportively.

“He looked into miracle cures and things, did a lot of research, there are cases where there have been recoveries many years later.. he was adamant we shouldn’t give up on him.” He looked at her through his tears, seeing her eyes glazing up too. “So, in that respect, we haven’t. But, if we’re honest with ourselves, we have.”

“Doesn’t this all cost money?”

He sighed, and looked at her, nodding.

“Oh. Shit.” Realisation dawned on her. “This explains a lot.”

“So, now you know. The real reason we’re broke.”

“So Bertrand’s had to weigh up whether to carrying on paying his medical bills?”

“Exactly. But Dad was very clear. He wanted us to keep paying as long as we could.”

“Oh, Maxwell.” She pulled him into a tight, welcome embrace. “I wish you’d told me all this before. But I’m glad you have now.”

“How could I have told you before? If you’d have known, you’d have felt even more pressure on you to accept Rick’s proposal, don’t you think?” If he was honest, it was the biggest reason he hadn’t told her until now.

She tightened her hold, and he heard her sigh in realisation.

“Besides, it’s not the sort of thing I go around telling people,” he admitted, stroking her back absentmindedly.

“I’d like to think I’m a bit more than _people_ these days,” she teased.

“You know you’re my favourite person,” he said, pulling back and shooting her a smile.

She giggled. “And you’re mine too. You have been pretty much ever since I got here.” They kissed gently, and she smiled at him afterwards. “Thanks for telling me, Maxwell. I won’t mention anything to the others. I can keep House Beaumont’s secrets just as well as you do” 

“Well, that’s the last one, you’ll be pleased to know. You know _everything_ now. And anything you don’t, just ask, and I promise to tell you..”

She arched her eyebrows. “Number of sexual partners?”

He blushed. “Too many. Lost count.”

She looked quite shocked, but soon smiled. “Well. I appreciate your honesty.”

“I mean, it’s definitely going to be less than fifty… but probably more than thirty…”

“Okay, I get the picture, Mr Loverman..” She pulled him down so that they were lying down together, and rolled onto him. “But that’s all going to stop now. You’re going to be _mine_ and _mine alone.”_

Not a problem. “And I can’t wait,” he said with a grin. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “But I’m afraid we should start thinking about getting to our midday briefing..” It was twenty to.

She let out a sigh (of frustration?) and rolled back so that she was beside him. “Right you are. So, what am I wearing?”

“I think you’re appropriately attired for the occasion..” He really did like her in that pink dress.

“I just want to stay here with you. But I guess we have to face the world sooner or later. Is Bertrand coming to this meeting?”

“I think so,” he said, standing up.

“Has he said anything to you yet?”

Maxwell shook his head, dreading the inevitable confrontation.

“I kind of feel even worse now I know why your finances are so bad..”

“Hey, we’ve been over this,” he said to her. “He’ll come around. I’ll make something work. Just wait and see.”

“Why? What are you up to?”

He laughed. “Oh, did I just say you could ask me anything? That might have been a tiny fib.” Okay, there was one more secret. But it was a good one.

She shook her head. “Well, whatever your madcap plan is, I have total faith in you pulling it off.” She stood up too. “You never did answer my question, you know.”

“Which question?”

“What your parents would make of us?”

That was easy. “Dad would be _over the moon_ , if he knew that I was marrying a Duchess…”

“Any old Duchess would do?” she giggled.

“Fraid so. But Mom? She just wanted me to be happy. Fall in love and find the right girl. So? I think she’d have been _even happier_.”


	20. In good company (first roadtrip)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New piece!
> 
> There were many roadtrips. This is probably one of the first, and definitely the first where it was just the two of them. 
> 
> I also love the fact that this takes place just before Jen starts to think of Maxwell that way and things will feel very different for her on the homeward journey :)

They’d been on the road for about an hour now, and he was starting to feel quite nervous. Bertrand wasn’t with them, apparently he had some pressing House business to attend to.They’d obviously be meeting up with the others once they got there, but the others all had their own transport sorted. So, for the three hour journey to Lythikos, it was just the two of them in the limo. He’d been secretly ecstatic about this prospect to start with, but now, an hour in, his enthusiasm levels had dropped.

Her normal sparkle was missing, His attempts at light and fluffy conversation had been met with short answers. She just looked so sad; staring out of the limo’s rolled down window as they headed further away from the sunny Cordonian capital and into the higher, cooler terrain of the northern part of the country, where Lythikos Keep sat, still a couple of hours drive away.

He couldn’t take it anymore. “Jen, you can smile you know.. hey, my company’s not _that_ bad…is it?”

She huffed out a sigh, and turned to face him. “No, Maxwell. It’s not your company that’s bothering me. Trust me, if it was, I’d tell you.”

“Phew. And there I was, thinking you secretly couldn’t stand me.”

She smiled. “Nah. That’s definitely not the case.”

“So, what’s up? C’mon, you can tell me. I won’t spill. We’re in this together now, yeah?”

“You know what’s up. I’ve got to spend the next few days watching that _awful_ Olivia lording it around like she’s already Queen. She hates me, she hates Hana, and she’ll be all over Rick like a rash, I can just see it now.”

“She hates me too, so you’re in good company.”

“Really?” She looked at him, her face a little perplexed.

“Of course she hates me. Not gonna lie, I’m a little bit scared of her. But, you’re not, are you?”

“Absolutely not. She’s a bully, and bullies don’t scare me. Not anymore.” She looked a little far away for a second, and he could sense a little sadness in her past that made him feel a little sad himself. “You have to break the cycle. And I’m gonna break _her_ if she messes with me or Hana.”

 _Gulp._ He knew Jen was fierce, it was one of the traits that really drew him to her. But every now and then she came out with something from the blue like that, that made him quiver. With fear? If he was honest, no… it was a bit of a turn-on.

_Get it together Beaumont._

She tapped her hand on his knee briefly. “Hey, you okay?”

“Me? I’m fine and dandy!” He was composed now. “I reckon we need to take your mind off things a bit. Think of a game we can play while we’re stuck in here. Obviously, Bertrand’s not really an advocate of that sorta thing, so we should make the most of it!”

“Ooh, I’ve got one.” She seemed to come to life. “We should play the name game. I used to play it with my mom and dad on car journeys!”

“How do you play it?”

“You have to think of a name beginning with A, then I think of one beginning with B… and we go on from there, and we keep going.. until one of us can’t get one!”

“Hmm. Does it have to be someone we know?”

“No it doesn’t have to be. But it’s funnier if it is.” She cocked her eyebrow. “Let’s say it has to be someone we know, and if it is someone we both know, you have to say a fact about them.”

“Right! I’ve got this. I’m starting. Aaaaaaaa….” But he could only think of one person. “Adelaide?”

He clearly hadn’t been able to hide the awkwardness, as Jen’s eyes flared. “Who’s Adelaide?”

“Oh you don’t know her, Jen.” _And hopefully you never will!_

“No, you’re not getting away with that.” She giggled. “I can tell from your face this is an ex girlfriend..”

 _Shiiiit._ “Uhhh, definitely not!”

She raised her eyebrows. “Riiight. Okay. B is for Bertrand.”

“Fact about Bertrand please? I know him.”

“What would I know about Bertrand that you don’t?”

“You added that stupid rule, Jen…”

She pulled a face. She still looked cute though. “Uh… that he hates me?”

“He doesn’t hate you, Jen. Or, if he does, he won’t soon. You’ll grow on him. I know you will. Have courage!”

She giggled. “Your turn. C.”

“Constantine.”

“Fact?”

“He and my dad used to be really good friends.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Dad was one of his _advisers._ ” _Before he got sick._

She nodded. “Impressive. Right. My turn. Drake.”

“Fact?”

“I think he was following me the other day. At the Derby. It creeped me out a bit.”

Maxwell sighed. He’d known Drake for a long time, and although they’d drifted apart in recent years, he could still tell when Drake was interested in someone. And he’d been very interested in someone over the last week or so.

“He said that Rick told him to, to make sure I was alright. Because _someone_ didn’t give me the right directions to find where I was going…”

“Yes, alright, alright, I’ve had all this from Bertrand already. Okay, my turn. Ezekiel.”

“Who’s that?”

“Kiara’s brother.”

“Ah right. F…..”

He pulled a face at her, hoping to put her off.

“F off, Maxwell!” She giggled, batting him away. “I can’t think of anyone I know whose name starts with F.”

“You concede defeat?”

“Never!”

“Think, Jen!!”

“F….. Oh! Felicity.”

“Who’s Felicity?”

“This awful girl I was in… er… went to school with. She kinda reminds me a bit of….Olivia….”

And with that they were back to the start of the conversation, and her face was painfully sad again.

“Hey. It’ll be okay.”

She let her head rest on his shoulder, and he took a couple of deep breaths and relaxed into it.

“I mean, no matter how awful Olivia is, Rick’s never gonna choose her ahead of you. I know exactly what he thinks of you.” _Pretty much the same that I do._ “He thinks you’re beautiful, he thinks you’re smart, he thinks you’re totally hot… I know he wants to marry you, Jen.”

Her eyes shot up in the direction of his. “Really?”

Yeah, okay, maybe he was talking about himself in the third person here. “Really. I know he does. And I know it’s early days, but I..” _Careful. ”_ He could well be falling in love with you, I reckon.”

She smiled, and nodded. “Good. I think I could feel like that about him too.”

“Good to know.”

There was a bit more of a comfortable silence now, as she let her head flop back against his shoulder for a couple of seconds, before lifting it again to gaze out of the limo window again, seemingly a little more contented.

Well, his work here was done.


	21. Something in common (first deep and meaningful)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is taken from "Moments in-between"

There wasn’t really much left to do today. They’d decided what they were all wearing, the entertainment for the evening had been decided (shh, top secret) and so it was just a case of going round all the guest rooms and making sure they were in order, so that was what he and Jen were doing right now.

“So, what’s down here?” she asked him, lingering at the top of the corridor that led to the three largest bedrooms in the manor.

“You don’t need to go down there,” he said, panicking slightly. The first room she would come to was his, and he’d left it in a right state. Having only slept here once (last night) since the New York bachelor party, he’d not had the chance to tidy it up yet and it really was, ugh, she really didn’t need to see that.

“Which one’s yours?” She looked knowingly at him. “And how disgusting is it?”

“Wait..”

She walked past his bedroom door, and tried the second door in the corridor.

“Oh. Guessing I got the wrong one. This one smells far too fresh and fragrant.”

He nodded. “That one’s my parents’ room.”

“Oh.” She peeked inside. “You don’t use it?”

He shook his head. “No. Go on, you can go in.” He didn’t go in here much himself. It just reminded him of the hours he spent in here with his mum once she was too poorly to get out of bed. Back then, it was the only place he wanted to be. Since then, he’d rather be _anywhere_ else.

Jen looked hesitantly at him at first. “Oh, you know me. I’m too curious not to.” She wandered into the room, and he watched as she breathed new life into it.

“Four poster bed… cool!” She sat down on it. “I’ve decided. I’m going to have one of these one day.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that comes as part of the Queen of Cordonia package…”

Her eyes lit up. “Aw yeah! What else do you think? A pack of corgis? Lifetime supply of petit fours?”

“Unlimited mani-pedis,” he joked, leaning casually against the door frame.

“Right to declare oneself winner of all dance-offs?”

He pulled a face. “No. Even a Queen does not have that right. The Cordonian monarchy has no jurisdiction over the law of the dance-off.”

She grinned, and looked around the room. “I’m surprised Bertrand hasn’t moved in here.”

Maxwell laughed awkwardly. That wasn’t likely to happen unless there were any further developments. “Oh, he uses it from time to time. If there’s anyone he.. let’s just say he wants to impress? Not for a while though.”

She glared at him. “I think that may have been TMI.”

He giggled. “Sorry..”

“How about you?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “Any ladies you might have.. _wanted to impress_ here?”

Other than the obvious? He couldn’t look at her. “Jen, that’s my mom and dad’s bed. I draw the line somewhere!”

She laughed, and lay back on it. “Okay. Yeah, I get that. Well, in that case, don’t just stand there.” She gestured to him to sit with her, and he pondered the wisdom of this action for a moment, but eventually joined her.

She sat up as he did so, her attention now drawn to a framed photograph on the side of the bed. _Oh. No. No no no no._

“Hey, this is cute… wait!”

She showed him the offending embarrassing article and there was no way he could spare his blushes. “That _can’t_ be you, can it?” She laughed, not waiting for him to speak, clearly his face said it all. “Look how chubby you were!”

“Yeah, go on, laugh..”

“Awww.. look at those little dimples!!!”

“Yeah, it wasn’t my best look. That was before I got into dancing… I lost weight then.”

She looked him up and down, which made him feel a little unsure of himself, then turned back to the photograph. “I’m guessing you were, what? About six here?”

“I’d say,” he said, squinting at the photograph. “Mom died when I was six, so..”

She looked at him. “Oh. Really?”

He nodded.

“You know, you don’t talk about them much. Your parents.”

“Guess not,” he said. It wasn’t something he found easy to talk about. His friends had lost parents too, in far more tragic circumstances. His parents had been older; they’d had Bertrand quite late in life, and although it had never been confirmed he’d always been led to believe his appearance six years later was unplanned, which just about said it all really.

“What happened to them?”

“Mom had cancer. Dad had.. a really horrible debilitating disease. He ended up in a coma. Bertrand had to come back from college, he ended up taking everything on when...”

He sighed. That was a time of his life he chose to block out. It wasn’t as if he and his father had ever been close. In fact it was fair to say their relationship had been difficult. He’d always been a bit of a mummy’s boy, if he was honest, and her death had hit him hard. When he was given the opportunity to go to college, he couldn’t get away from Cordonia fast enough. Trouble is, he’d had to go back after graduation, when the money situation had further tightened.

“I was thirteen,” she said in a small voice.

He looked at her curiously.

“When my mom died. And my dad.”

His heart raced and he instinctively put an arm around her, his heart breaking for her. “Jen, I had no idea.”

“No, it’s fine. It never came up in conversation.”

He sighed. It should have done, really. He was very conscious of the way he’d whisked her over here without a thought for whether she was leaving anyone behind her.

“They had a car accident. They were on their way to pick me up from a friend’s party.”

He looked at her sadly. “Oh, Jen.”

She looked emotional, but wasn’t letting any tears out. “I didn’t have any other family local. I ended up in care, because the rest of my family were annoyed that they didn’t get left anything. They left it all to me.”

As she said the word _care_ it physically hurt his insides. His teenage years had been tough, but this didn’t compare.

“So. I guess we have something in common. I’m sensing you’re not keen to right now, but if you do ever want to talk about it..”

He nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.” As much as he wanted to talk about it with her, he was still afraid to let her get too close.

“But don’t tell anyone, Maxwell. Especially about the care bit. I don’t want Rick to know. It might taint his opinion of me. And if it got out..”

He shook his head, and smiled. “Lips, sealed,” he attempted to mutter through closed lips.

She looked at him strangely for a few seconds, but then her expression changed to a smile. “I trust you. Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do..”

“Good. So then you can tell me. What was going on with the money yesterday, Maxwell?”

He tensed up.

“Because Drake didn’t believe a word you were saying yesterday afternoon,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “And neither did I.”

He sighed. Not good. “Listen.. you are going to have to trust me on this too. It’s not that I don’t trust you. But I _can’t_ tell you. Not right now.” He wanted to. He really wanted to. But she was too close to Drake. And it wasn’t his secret to tell.

“Are you in any sort of trouble? I’m worried about you.”

He shook his head. “No. I promise it’s nothing like that. But.. if someone else was, you’d want to help them if you could, wouldn’t you?”

She frowned at him. “I would, but..”

Suddenly realising how close they still were, he pulled away his arm and edged away a little. “I really want to tell you, Jen. If I could, I would. I will tell you one day. It’s just…” Whatever he said, he would say too much, so he had to stop there.

“Okay,” she said. “I respect that. As long as you’re not the one in trouble. Because if you were, I’d want to do everything humanly possible to help you. You know that, right?”

“Right,” he said, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. “Thanks, Jen.”

“Besides, if you remember, the Cordonian Queen package also provides the answer to all of House Beaumont’s financial woes, thus hopefully helping you with said _undisclosed_ situation immensely.”

He grinned. “Yeah, there is that.”

“This has turned out to be an unusually deep conversation for us, don’t you think?”

He had to agree. It wasn’t a bad thing at all. “Best we immediately get back to discussing party playlists and our favourite crisp flavours.”

“Agreed,” she said. “And we best relocate really before Bertrand finds us here, huh?” She took one last look at the family portrait. “I can definitely see the resemblance between your father and Bertrand. Can’t see you in him though.” She glanced back and forward at him, and the picture, eventually settling her gaze on him. “But you know what? You’ve got your mom’s smile.”


	22. Kiss it better (doing something sexual in a non-sexual way)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a weird one this... and of course with these two it's going to trigger the sexual..   
> New piece set towards the end of the Valtoria Diaries.

Jen was in the drawing room, trying to get a minutes peace, browsing through her phone for ideas of a wedding present to get for Bertrand and Savannah.

“Your Grace, the surgery just called with an appointment reminder for yourself for next week,” Christopher called in. “Did you want to rearrange?”

“Oh!” She’d completely forgotten she was supposed to have a pill check. “I’ll have to. Can’t miss our honeymoon for that. But you’ll need to make one for very shortly after I get back, if that’s okay.” She was due to run out of pills at the end of February.

“Of course, Your Grace.”

Christopher left the room and Hana wandered in .

“Hey Jen,” she said.

“Hana. What are you up to?”

“I was just about to head into town, and I wondered if you needed anything?”

“No, that’s okay Hana. Are you walking?”

“Yes. I thought it would be good exercise. I really don’t think the Zumba is for me.”

Jen giggled. “Me neither, Hana, but I’m kinda committed now.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.”

Jen continued to browse her phone, but then a phone call came in. She sighed.

“Hello, Madeleine..”

“I got your RSVP for next week. Just to confirm the times, your presence will be required from three pm onwards.”

Jen sighed. “We’re supposed to be flying out in the early hours of Saturday morning, Madeleine, so it’s not ideal…”

“Your commitments to your country and King should take precedence to frolicking in the sea while drinking cocktails, Duchess Jen, and you know it.”

Jen sighed. “Okay, Madeleine, I get that. We’ll just have to stay over at the palace and go straight to the airport from there, if Rick doesn’t mind.”

“I won’t bother His Majesty with the details of your social schedule. I will organise that. I look forward to seeing you and the Duke then.”

“Bye Madelei…”

But she’d already gone. Jen sighed again, and looked back at her phone display. What had she been doing? Ah yes. Wedding presents. She was conscious that by the time they got back from their honeymoon (six sleeps and counting now, she was grinning from ear to ear just thinking about it) there wouldn’t be a lot of time until the wedding, and she wanted to be organised. She’d just ordered some little presents for herself and Maxwell to take away with them, top secret of course. She couldn’t wait to just be there, on that island, with _nobody but him_.

“Heyyyyyy!”

She didn’t need to look up from her phone. “You’re back.”

“Yup. Chance has been fully exercised for the day. Man, you won’t believe this though..” He headed towards her, and as she looked up at him, she noticed an obvious limp in his gait.

“What have you done to yourself, babe?”

“I was halfway home and my leg just.. went! It’s killing me. Never known anything like it!”

She stood up. “Oh… that’s weird?”

“I know, been years since I had any sort of dancing injury…”

She raised her eyebrows. “All that Zumba is using muscles you haven’t used for a while, clearly.”

“Yeah, but it’s up here..” He put a hand on the inside of his leg to demonstrate.

“Where?”

Before she realised his hand was coming towards her, it was already up her skirt and between her legs. “Right there inbetween my legs and it kills!”

She smiled, but realised he hadn’t even thought about what he’d done. “Using me as a prop are you? I like it.”

He pulled his hand away. “Oh. Whoa. I did not just mean to put my hand up your skirt like some perv…. I just wanted to show you where it hurts, I didn’t even think about it like that…”

“Damn shame,” she sighed, drawing close to him, loving how flustered he could get when he was embarrassed. “I liked it. So, now I know _exactly_ where it hurts, do you want me to kiss it better?”

He laughed. “That is not why I wanted to tell you…”

She sank to her knees, and let her lips brush against the inside of his leg. He let out a little guttural groan, and she giggled.

“Oh, best not. Don’t want to hurt you any more.”

She stood up, and looking back at him seductively, grabbed her phone and headed upstairs as quickly as she could without appearing obvious. She knew he would follow, and giggled as he set off in her pursuit.


	23. Her Mr Brightside (jamming out in the car to an awesome song)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very early social season (after the Derby) new piece.
> 
> Obviously, Mr Brightside is by the Killers! Written by Brandon Flowers/Dave Keuning/Mark Storermer/Ronnie Vannucci Jr

Jen slid into the limo, sitting next to Maxwell. “I hope you had a good time,” he said gently.

She smiled at him. “It was..“

“Enough pleasantries,” interrupted Bertrand. “We only have time for business. First of all, was that Lady Hana Lee I saw you with before we pulled up? You two looked friendly.”

Jen looked at Maxwell, and then back at Bertrand. “Yes. Hana and I are.. becoming friends.”

“Hmm.. interesting,” Bertrand said. “An alliance with her family isn’t the _worst_ thing as long as you don’t let it distract you from your pursuit of the Prince. In any case, your focus today should be on impressing the Queen. She holds more sway than anyone else at court.”

“Even more than the King?” Jen asked.

“Socially, yes. Don’t underestimate her. Thankfully you heeded my recommendation to wear something modern. That’ll curry her favour.”

Maxwell laughed. “Yeah, that’ll help, but more than that.. you need to get her to like you!”

Jen laughed too. “If I’m going to get her to like me, tell me what she likes, and what she hates.”

Maxwell pondered for a second. “The Queen enjoys fashion, and likes a woman with grace and style. She’s quite wary of ladies who were not born in Cordonia, so you should watch your step there,” he stated. “But I’m sure your natural charm will win her over.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence..”

“The Queen hates it when royal protocol isn’t followed,” Bertrand added. “You should call her Your Majesty when you first meet her and Ma’am thereafter. Etiquette wise, don’t forget that you must always stay a step or two behind her when keeping company with her.”

“Oh! She also loves to play games, and can be quite competitive,” Maxwell went on. “And I know you have a great sense of humour Jen..”

“Thank you..”

“But the Queen doesn’t!” Maxwell grinned at her. “So if you only have something snarky to say..” 

She smiled. He was getting to know her well.

“ _Don’t_ ,” Bertrand cut him off. “Ultimately, she’s concerned about how the Prince’s bride will be partly responsible for Cordonia’s future. Keep that in mind when talking to her.”

“Got it,” Jen said, nodding.

“I hope you have,” Bertrand said, firmly. “You might have performed well with the press, but remember Jen, it only takes one slip-up to tear apart the reputation you’ve built.”

Just then, the radio started playing a song that Jen recognised very well. “Aw… I love this song!!”

“Me too!” Maxwell stood up. “I’m gonna get the driver to turn up the volume!”

“How could you not to Mr Brightside?” Jen declared.

Bertrand frowned. “I would have hoped you would have rather take the opportunity for me to impart some more advice upon you with respect to this afternoon’s…”

But now the music was at full volume, and Maxwell returned with a grin. “JEALOUSY!!”

Jen was jumping about on her seat. “TURNING SAINTS INTO THE SEA!”

They were in chorus themselves now as they chanted the entire chorus of the song and danced along on their seats. Bertrand just looked on in disapproval.

“DESTINY IS CALLING ME, OPEN UP MY EAGER EYES…”

Maxwell was standing up now, unable to resist the call to dance. “I’M MR BRIGHTSIDE.”

She loved it, he really was her Mr Brightside at the moment too, and she swayed to the music, hands dancing along as she watched him go for it. Bertrand stood up, moving out of the line of fire of Maxwell’s elbows. Maxwell sat down again and shimmied across the seat to Jen.

“It started off with a kiss, how did it up like this?”

“It was only a kiss,” she answered.

His eyes were sparkling. “It was only a kiss!” 

The music stopped.

“Awwwww?” they chorused.

Bertrand returned to his seat, having come from the direction of the driver’s hatch. “From now on, we drive in _silence_.”

Jen looked sympathetically at Maxwell, who was more than a little deflated. Why did Bertrand always have to spoil his fun?

“I would remind you that we are on our way to a tea party with the Queen,” he said in response to her silent question. “We have no time or energy to waste with this frivolity.”

He turned away, and Jen stuck out her tongue in Bertrand’s direction. She didn’t dare look at Maxwell’s face, but she heard his futile attempts to mute his laughter.


	24. Happy birthday little blossom (first time spending one of their birthdays together)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is straight out of the Valtoria Diaries so sorry nothing new today..
> 
> I am a bit fond of this one though and it came out of the short window of time I found that I could actually write smut!

It was really warm, and oh so comfy, in their soft, silky, sumptuous hotel bed. Daylight had already broken by the time Jen stirred; she shrugged her shoulders and shimmied her hips a bit to gauge if she was alone in the bed, and she was, as ever, delighted to discover that she wasn’t. It still seemed a little bit too good to be true, even now after two full weeks of marital bliss.

She’d not opened her eyes yet, but she felt a delicate kiss on her neck, which made her tingle all over and must have generated a drowsy smile. 

“Happy birthday, little blossom.”

She opened her eyes, to see his blue ones, soft and sleepy, gazing towards her.

“Thank you,” she said. “Best birthday ever already.”

“Well, it’s about to get better…” He reached into the drawer at the side of the bed. “I have some presents for you!”

“I thought this trip was my present..”

“You thought wrong.” He handed her a bag containing three small, individually wrapped gifts.

She sat up to open them, and he joined her. “Oh.. which should I open first?”

“Errrr… Go for that one.”

She did as she was told, to reveal a cardboard box, which she opened to reveal something that she recognised immediately and made her squeal with excitement. “You did it!”

“I did it! Yay, me!” 

It was a bracelet made out of twigs, to match her ring.

“Yay, you! It’s gorgeous, Maxwell. You’re so clever. Did this one take you any longer to make?”

“Yeah. Maybe about an hour or so. But that’s made from genuine Valtorian twigs. The best that Sir Leafenwood Von Barksley could offer.”

That gave her the first laugh of the day. “Aw…”

“But if you want to open your second present…” He passed another similar wrapped box to her, which she unwrapped eagerly. In it was a beautiful golden bracelet, in the same style as the twig bracelet.

“Oh..”

“A real one to go with your twig one. Like your rings. ‘Cos I know they scratch you a bit if you wear the twig ones too much..”

“You are the sweetest.” She grabbed his cheeks and kissed him. “I really don’t deserve this. And what’s this one?”

“Well. This one only cost me four euros plus P&P. But when I saw it, I just knew I had to get it for you..”

She unwrapped a tiny package, and a credit-card sized token slipped into her hand. “What does this say…” She read it and melted. “ _You’re pretty much my favourite person of all time in the history of ever…”_ She looked at him, choked. “Did you get this personalised?”

“Nope. It just came up on my Pictagram. And I thought it was fate. Because you are.”

 _Ohmygosh, too cute._ “I’ll carry this in my phone case, so I have it everywhere I go,” she sighed, reaching for her phone. “Oh, I’ve got a message in the group chat from Hana to say happy birthday! I’ll just quickly message back..”

“Send them some pictures of what we’ve been up to,” he said. “They’ll all be together at the capital by now, right?”

“Yeah, okay,” Jen said, sending through some pictures from the zoo and their rooftop date. She didn’t want to rub it in with Rick too much with the Statue of Liberty photographs. She then tucked her token into a slot in her phone case, and put her phone back down. “I love it. It’s just perfect. And I love my bracelets. Thank you. I feel suitably spoilt.”

“Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet, Jen. I fully intend to spoil you this morning.” He moved a little closer, a sexy smirk settling on his face.

“Oh? Are you going to be my sex slave for the day?”

“The day? No. Because there will come a time all too soon when we have to go and get our sweet selves and all those boxes over there on a plane back to Cordonia. But until that time arrives…” He flexed his fingers, and ran his tongue along his lips. “I’m at your command.”

She liked the sound of that. “Well. In that case, I want you to sing happy birthday to me in seven different languages….”

“Seven? Woah, Jen, I can probably stretch to three…”

She giggled. “That’s okay. One is fine. I only understand English anyway.”

He winked, and started to sing to her, Marilyn Monroe style. “Happy boith-day, to you…” He rolled onto her, straddling her, as she laughed. “Happy boith-day to you…. Happy boith-day, Mrs Beaumont…” He leaned down to place a teasing kiss on her lips. “Happy boith-day to you.”

“Why thank you,” she said, looking dreamily up at him. “Like I said, best birthday ever, so far.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I can make it better. Just say the word.”

She knew exactly which word she had in mind, and bit her lip playfully. “The word?”

He leaned in again to whisper in her ear, giving her electric shivers. “The magic word. Just say it…”

“Mouth.”

He gave her a gooey grin. “That’s all I am to you, huh? A walking mouth.”

This mental image was so amusing she couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “You, at my command, remember?”

He shook his head, laughing with her. “Your Grace.”

She lay back and closed her eyes, feeling his lips flutter back to her ear, planting breathy kisses, extending the delightful feeling from a few moments ago. She giggled as he whispered gently, “Happy birthday, ear.” His lips then travelled to her neck, and here she felt his tongue gently draw patterns on her sensitive skin for a few seconds. She sighed and stretched out in blissful expectation.

“Happy birthday, sexy neck,” he said. “And, I’d just like to say, as it’s your birthday, you appear to be inappropriately attired…”

She raised her arms. “Take it off then.”

“As you wish.” His hands explored underneath her nightgown; she wasn’t wearing anything else. As they got to the neckline, he pulled the garment over her head from within. “There. Birthday suit.”

She giggled as he peppered kisses down her neck and towards her chest. “Now I would say happy birthday to these, but I’m guessing they’re a few years younger than the rest of you..”

Clearly unphased, he placed his mouth around one of her nipples and began to tease it with his tongue. This felt so good, she had to grab onto the pillow to steady herself. She couldn’t help but groan gently as he continued. When he finally broke contact, she felt an ache inside her for him to do the same to the other, and without her even having to hint at this he moved his mouth across, this time the feeling was even more intense and her unintentional moan was far louder as a result. Her world was spinning, and she was just beginning to wonder if it was possible for her to climax like this, without any contact further down her body, when he abruptly stopped.

Breathless, she relaxed into the mattress, and opened her eyes. He had pushed the covers away, and was studying her naked body curiously, as if deciding where to go next. “Happy birthday, cute lil belly button. It’s definitely _your_ birthday.” That got a little kiss, as the anticipation began to build elsewhere. She glanced down as he started to descend further, and couldn’t keep quiet as she felt his breath close to where she wanted him most, but frustratingly he went past. “Ah. Happy birthday feet.”

The slightest touch to her feet during lovemaking always gave her the giggles, and he knew it. He kissed the ball of one of her feet, and she squealed. Next, he began to suck one of her toes on the other foot.

That was a bit weird. “Eww..”

“No? Want me to stop? At your command, remember?”

She sat up and shot him a smoulder. “Maybe less toe-sucking, and more….” She looked at him suggestively.

“More…. _Oh._ More saying happy birthday to the rest of your body. Silly me. Where were we? Ah yes..” He jumped up and rolled her over onto her side. “Right. You stay right there.” He returned to the bottom of the bed. “Happy birthday to the bits behind your knees, that make you go _cray-cray_ when I do this…”

He ran his fingers up and down on one side, and as usual it had the effect that he had desired. She gasped in pleasure as a tantalising chill spread all the way up her leg to where her legs met. “And this..” He then moved up to the other leg, this time planting a tongued kiss followed by a little nibble, to the tune of her breathy sighs.

He moved further up behind her, placing gentle kisses on her butt as he passed it. “Happy birthday to the small of your back…” His lips there felt amazing, but she could sense his fingers hovering close to where she wanted them, and she writhed in that direction.

“Hey, patience,” he said softly, and moving his hands up further, rolled her onto her back once more. “First I have to say happy birthday to the insides of your extremely hot thighs..” 

This was almost too much to bear, as his kisses moved upwards and upwards, and then stopped, commencing on the other leg. “Ohh. Maxwell. Please…”

“ _Then_ I want to say happy birthday to your little booty..” He placed his hands underneath her butt cheeks, and gave them both a squeeze, moving in so close she could feel his breath, and the world began to melt away.

“Happy birthday, little blossom,” he whispered, before he finally placed his tongue in the desired location.

She couldn’t surpress her wails of pleasure as he worked his magic, and she wasn’t able to stop herself from falling off the edge about thirty agonisingly pleasurable seconds later.

As she attempted to catch her breath, he returned to her side and held her.

“Oh. My. God. Maxwell. That was…”

“I get the impression that you were quite satisfied with today’s service, Your Grace?”

 _Whew._ “Your impression is quite correct.” She ran her hands over his chest.

“So. What would you have me do now?”

“Whatever you damn well like?” She kissed his tattoo, and looked wantonly at him. “I’m all yours.”

“Oh no,” he said, teasingly. “It’s all about you today. I can only be of service to you.”

She had a really wicked idea. “Well then. Perhaps you could accompany me to the shower. After that, I’m feeling a bit, well, dirty. You could, ah, help with the shower gel. Make sure I’m clean.. all over..”

His grin grew larger, and he pretended to offer up a prayer to the skies while mouthing a silent “thank you”. She giggled at his reaction.

“Come on then…” She shimmied off the bed and rushed into the hotel bathroom, turning to see him in hot pursuit, his best _you don’t have to tell me twice_ expression on his face as he removed his boxers in the process.

As she leapt into the shower compartment to turn on the water, she felt him enter her from behind as soon as the warm water trickled onto her. “Oh..” His hands were already on her breasts as he pushed against her, and although she’d thought herself spent, she felt pleasure rising up inside her again. His lips were on her neck, and his kisses felt hotter than ever as the water got hotter.

She reached for the shower gel dispenser and his hands grabbed out to take the soap as she pushed the button, and sighed as he lavished it all over her skin, her chest, her thighs, her butt. Once he’d done this, she turned to face him, allowing him to pick her up and pin her against the tiles. She grabbed onto his wet hair, and through the streams of hot water she could just about see the contorted pleasure on his face.

“Oh. God. Jen. Yes!”

She soon felt more moisture and warmth than the shower was emitting, and guided one of his soapy hands to where their bodies joined, a few light touches being enough to send her into bliss once again. They held each other under the running water, until their breathing returned to normal and their heart rates slowed a little.

“Well, that was a new one for me,” he commented, eyes still shut, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Really?” This surprised her, given his history.

He lowered her back to her feet, and kissed her sweetly. “Really. I’m just so glad we have a shower in our en-suite back home right now. I feel like a little more practice wouldn’t kill me.”

“I really, really, really don’t think you need any practice.” She kissed him again. “But. If you think you do, who am I to stop you?”

“I love you, birthday girl.”

“I love you too babe,” she exclaimed. “That was incredible. So, I imagine you’ll be expecting similar treatment on your birthday…?”

He shot her a playful wink. “You have four months and eleven days to work that out for yourself.”

Giggling in contentment, she relaxed in the warmth of the water as they washed off the rest of the soap from each other’s bodies.

***

 _Phew_. That had definitely been one of his better ideas. He did seem to have some of his best ideas here in the Big Apple, with one obvious example springing to mind. Jen had also had her best idea _ever_ the last time they were here. And this trip in itself had been a pretty good idea, despite Jen’s initial reluctance.

He finally emerged from the bathroom, all nicely freshened up and ready to check out and check onto their flight back to Cordonia (they were flying first class on a regular flight to Athens, where the royal jet would meet them for the final leg of the journey). He found the beautiful birthday girl sitting on the floor of their hotel room with her back to the wall, clad in her favourite black vest and jeans combo, browsing through the contents of one of her boxes.

“Hey. Whatcha looking at?”

She looked up. “You, now.” A grin crept up her lips.

“Okay. What _were_ you looking at?”

Jen sighed. “Wanna see?”

He nodded, and came to sit next to her, as she picked up a photograph from the box.

“This is me with my mom and dad, on my thirteenth birthday. My last birthday before..”

He put his arm around her and held her close. “Yeah.” He gazed, first at the image of his favourite person when she was a gawky teen, an image he’d never seen before but that was already so precious to him. His eyes then flickered to the woman on her left, who looked more like a darker skinned version of the Jen of today, with the same green eyes, and the same sea of black curly heaven framing her face. And then his eyes settled on the man to her right, a cheery looking character, with a killer smile he recognised so very well.

“Wow.” Maxwell couldn’t take his eyes off the photograph. “What were they called?”

“My dad was called Paul. My mom was called Nancy.”

“I can see you in both of them.”

“Yeah.” Jen’s voice was strained. “I was like the perfect blend of them.”

“Perfect’s right.” He looked back at her. Her eyes were tearful. “I’m sorry, Jen.”

“Thanks.” She grabbed his free hand, and continued to look at the photograph. “I think, another birthday coming around has made me realise. I’ve now been without them longer than I was with them, if that makes sense?”

“Yeah. You lost them more than half your lifetime ago. It’s the same for me. And especially with my mom.”

“I know. I just.. I don’t like to think about them too much, because it’s painful. They should still be here. If it wasn’t for me going to that stupid party..”

“Shhh.” He leant closer to her, holding her as she sobbed. “It’s okay. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. This is supposed to be a happy day.” She looked back at him through the tears. “I know they’d have done anything for me, and they’d be here if they could. I just, I still miss them.”

“Well, I know I can never replace them. But you know I’d do anything for you too. I can try and love you as much as they did. And you’ve got me forever.”

She smiled. “I really hope so.”

“Come here.” He knew she could be a real softie sometimes underneath all her badass country-saving, duchy-running, people-inspiring talk. He kissed her gently and watched the sparkle return to her eyes. “There. That’s better.”

“You’re so kind. Did I ever tell you how kind you are?”

“Hey, kindness comes naturally where you’re concerned. You know I’d do anything to help my friends. And you’re my best friend. And more.”

She nodded, wiping her eyes. “Look, I put my bracelets on. I think they look good together.”

“At the risk of sounding overly cheesy, anything would look good on you. But yeah.. they do!”

She smiled fondly. “Listen, Maxwell. I just want to say, I know I got a bit grumpy with you when I found out you were taking me away this weekend, and you know I’m sorry about that.”

A bit grumpy was a colossal understatement, but he was learning quickly when to stay quiet about this sort of thing. “Really, there’s no need to apologise again. It’s forgotten.”

“I know. But, I just want to say, thank you so much. These last few days have been such a breath of fresh air. Just you and me, sharing and reliving our memories of the last few crazy months, and making some new ones..”

“Like me provoking those peacocks to fight each other at the zoo?”

She looked a little disapproving, but nodded. “Yes. Like that. And like the kissing on the subway, and eating pizza, and.. well, what we did just now..”

“One for the Valtoria history books,” he acknowledged.

“But, just reverse back to the peacocks,” she said, “Remind me when we get back to have a word with the people who run the menagerie about getting your peacocks brought across.”

“Oh yeah! A little piece of Beaumont Manor in our own backyard. I’ve missed those guys..”

“Well, Bertrand seemed pretty keen to offload them when we spoke about it last weekend. I thought at one point he might have thrown them in the limo with us.”

“Ooof. I’m so glad he didn’t. Peacock feathers can definitely smart if you get them stuck up your…”

Her eyes alight, she put her hand over his mouth. “Stop. I don’t want to know how you know that.”

“Right. Best you don’t.”

Evidently trying her hardest not to laugh, she stood up. “It must be time for breakfast….”

The mention of the word made Maxwell’s stomach rumble. “Ooh. Now you’ve put me in the mood for food..”

Jen looked at her phone display. “Oh. I didn’t realise the time. I think we might be too late. And we have to check out soon…”

“Ah, so now you regret being so _demanding_ earlier?”

She blushed and smiled sweetly. “I regret nothing. Perfect start to my birthday. Hey! I’ve got it!” She pulled him to his feet, excited. “We can check out, get the boxes moved downstairs, and then before we get our cab to the airport, we can go to Dominique’s and get…”

“…CRONUTS!” They said it in unison, in self-congratulatory tones.

“Can we get extra to take some back for the others?”

“Hell, yes!”

“Are we allowed to take cronuts on a plane?”

“As far as I’m aware, Maxwell, they’re not on the banned items list.”


	25. That next adventure (first workplace party)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this category had defeated me... but I had a flash of inspiration after reading today's chapter of TRH!
> 
> I'm sure if you have too, you'll spot a little nod to it :) but hopefully it won't spoil anything for you if you haven't yet!

“Damn, Jen, you look fiiiine,” he said, twirling her around gently as he met her at the car. He’d had to get to the venue some time before the launch party began, to sign some books and have some publicity photos taken and so on; Jen had decided to hit the capital’s shops while she was waiting to get the perfect outfit for this evening. If ever there was an occasion that she wanted to dazzle the room, this was it; she was obscenely proud of her husband, and wanted to demonstrate her support in every way she could.

“Thank you,” she said, kissing him gently on the cheek. “Missed you when I was shopping. Choosing a dress just isn’t the same without my style consultant.”

“Thought you might have had Hana with you for help? Where is she anyway?”

“Oh, they’re going to pop along a little later. Rick didn’t want to take the spotlight away from the man of the moment. But I didn’t want to miss a moment of being the lucky lady on your arm tonight.”

“In that case, shall we?” He offered his arm, and she happily accepted it. He didn’t look too bad himself, in his black and white suit, classically understated as ever and oozing effortless sexiness.

They made their way into the room, where people were already milling about. Jen looked around to see photographs from the book dotted around the room, and some rather large photographs of her husband in various poses.

“Hey?” She prodded him. “Who’s this book about, remind me?”

“Who wrote it?”

“What exactly would you have had to write about if I’d thrown you a look and said, _I don’t think so mister, there’s no way I’m getting on a plane with you, today or ever?_ ”

“Who exactly would you have been if you’d said that?” He winked at her. “Not you. You were always gonna say yes.”

“Ah, Duke Maxwell..” A greying, plump man tapped Maxwell on the shoulder. “Is this the moment I finally meet the heroine of your story?”

“It is indeed, Joe! May I introduce my beautiful, brave and smart wife, Jen.”

Jen held her hand out to Joe for him to shake it, but found that he kissed it. “Your Grace. A pleasure. I feel as if I already know you, having worked with Maxwell on this book for so long.”

She raised her eyebrows. “So, what part have you played in its creation?”

“Oops, I’m so sorry Jen, I should have said! Joe is my editor. So you have him to thank for the fact that I’m allowed to tell our story in my own fabulous voice!”

“Well, there are things he had to change, and chop out, for all our sakes,” Joe admitted. “That’s what I’m here for. Your husband is an excellent storyteller, though. He made my job easy.”

A server came around with glasses of champagne, and Jen saw Maxwell’s eyes light up as he reached for two. “We need to toast! To the Royal Romance!”

“To the Royal Romance!” she echoed, and Joe joined in.

“Well, thank you Joe for all your help. I still don’t know how this one managed to keep it all under wraps for so long. It was such a big project.. he knows this but I’m so amazed by him.”

Maxwell was clearly trying not to blush. “You’re the amazing one. And that’s why this book is gonna sell and sell!”

“I was just talking to Grayson on that topic,” Joe said. “Sales are well over what we had expected. We’d envisaged the book would do well in Cordonia, but it’s outselling worldwide expectations already..”

“Grayson is the boss of the publishing company,” Maxwell explained. “And I’m his new favourite client.”

“You know what’s coming next though,” Joe sighed.

Maxwell sighed. “I do.”

Jen looked from Maxwell to Joe. “What?”

A blonde man in his forties wandered over. “Ah, Maxwell my man… and this…. This can only be the Duchess of Valtoria in all her glory. So wonderful to meet you, Your Grace.”

“Why thank you,” said Jen politely.

“Jen, this is Grayson, my executive publisher,” Maxwell explained.

“The thanks is all mine,” Grayson said, a slightly sleazy tone in his voice. “Without you and your amazing story, and the obvious talent of the only man close enough to you to tell it so candidly and convincingly… well, the world would have missed such an opportunity.”

Jen exchanged a glance with Maxwell. What Grayson clearly meant was that _he_ would have missed that opportunity.

“The world wants to read all about you, and your story of love and friendship overcoming all. And there’s one thing I need to know. What can we expect from the sequel, Maxwell?”

“Told you,” Joe said, with a smirk.

“Ah, well…” Maxwell looked nervously at Jen. “I do have an outline in mind… but I think we need a little time to get to the action.”

Jen giggled, and pinched him playfully on the arm.

“No matter, Your Grace, no matter, because I have the most incredible news… I have been in talks with one of my American counterparts, and he’s very much of the opinion that if this shifts enough copies Stateside, it’ll be _movie material!”_

“No. Way.” Jen stared at Maxwell, whose jaw had dropped, little Euro signs appearing in his eyes.

“Absolutely. So, we’ll all do well out of that, if that happens… plenty of time for a sequel to happen, and then be written about in the same captivating and humorous style.. you two just need to go out and find that next adventure, huh?” Grayson clapped Maxwell on the shoulder, he was still frozen. “Right, I need to spread the good news. I’ll catch you a little later. Enjoy your night!”

Jen gave Maxwell a nudge. “Hey, it’s just a possibility, it’s not definite..”

“Bl.. bww.. ehhh..”

She looked apologetically at Joe. “Excuse us one moment.” She ushered Maxwell to the side of the room.

“Hey!” She took his glass from him, and placed them both down on a nearby table full of boosk.

“Jen, you heard what he said..”

“I did! And it’s amazing! But don’t get your hopes up just yet.. I don’t want you to have your hopes dashed if it doesn’t happen…”

He laughed manically, and took both her hands in his. “But don’t you see? _Everything_ is going our way. What did I tell you, that night at the homecoming ball when we watched the fireworks and you kissed the face off of me and everyone except Bertrand saw it and I didn’t care…”

“Um, I could just look it up, right?” There was a pile of books next to her, and she picked one up, flicking through it ironically.

“I told you, my life right now is beyond my wildest dreams. And in my wildest dreams, I was a famous writer, and my books got made into films..”

“Yeah, you’ve told me this..”

“But being with you, the most amazing person I’ve ever met, being _married_ to you, Jen, and even having the opportunity to…” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “To _start a family with you_ , Jen. You know I dream big. But this is bigger. And with you by my side, I don’t see that lid on the possibilities anymore. I honestly feel that this is gonna happen, and this film’s gonna be a worldwide blockbuster and make House Beaumont richer than the royal family, and Ryan Summers is gonna play me, and.. or Matt Rodriguez? Which?”

She kissed him to silence him, feeling the energy buzzing in him as he made fists with his hands either side of her waist.

Afterwards, she looked adoringly at him. “If we’re going for beyond your wildest dreams, then _definitely_ Matt Rodriguez. He’s fit.”

He threw her a hurt look. “Too bad he’s married…”

“Hey, hey, jealousy doesn’t get you anywhere…” It was hot though, so maybe she was lying to herself a little. She put her arms around his shoulders. “You know what we need to do right now?”

“Right now? I’m kinda meant to be seen here, but otherwise, yeah, I’d be all for..”

“ _Dance_. Get some of that pent-up energy out of you! Celebrate like it’s your night that you deserve. Because you do, Maxwell. It’s not about your editor, or your publisher, or your potential movie producer, or your muse.” She pointed to herself. “It’s your night, and you should be the centre of attention. So go on.”

“You’re right.” He grabbed the champagne glass back from the table she’d deposited it on when they’d headed over here, and drained it. “Time to hit the dancefloor.” He dashed off.

“Wait…” Laughing, she drained her own glass and headed off in pursuit of her dance partner for life.


	26. Something comparable (first holiday spent together)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sneak preview of something I was already working on for Valtoria Diaries :)

“So what are we watching next?” Jen had the TV remote in one hand, and an empty tub of cookie dough ice-cream in the other hand, and she had her legs stretched out with her bare feet resting on his knee.

They’d set this little room up as a lounging-around-in-your-pyjamas-to-watch-TV-and-eat-ice-cream room especially for the purpose of watching Christmas films together, and he thought it was his favourite room yet. It was something they hadn’t really got into the routine of doing so far because they’d only been moved in for six weeks or so and other evening pursuits had always seemed more pressing, but hey, there was no reason to assume they couldn’t multitask from now on. Netflix and chill!

“Well, you know me so well, you’ve already chosen all my favourite Christmas films…”

“I don’t think anyone would have to know you that well to guess that Elf would be your favourite Chrsitmas film…” she sniggered.

“Yeah, but Muppet Christmas Carol was a little less obvious…”

She giggled, and shuffled up so she was closer to him. “Let’s have a flick through. Hmm. How about The Grinch?”

He pulled a face. “Are we talking Jim Carrey?”

“Nope. New cartoony one.”

“Oh god no. Next.”

She moved on. “A Christmas Prince?”

They looked at each other, and both started to laugh.

“Nah, I didn’t think so either. I’d much rather have a Daily Duke.”

He had to grin. “Good to know.”

“Ooh. How about Love Actually.”

“Not seen that one…”

She sat up and looked at him in shock. “Ohmygod Maxwell. We need to correct this oversight immediately. You will _love_ this one.”

“What’s it about?” He knew really.

She shook her head, and grinned back at him. “Love, actually.”

“Oh. Sounds like I could dig it if I was watching it with you.” He snuggled into her.

“That’s settled then.” She hit the play button. “It’s about lots of couples falling in love. At Christmas.”

“Oh, it’s a romcom! Drake’s favourite movie genre!”

“Yeah, I’m sure Drake will be secretly all over this one. But I reckon you’ll like it too.”

“What’s not to like about hanging with you in my pyjamas watching Christmas films? It’s perfect.”

She lay back against him. “Ahhh. You know the only thing that could make this moment better? If I had a bag of Hershey’s miniatures to munch my way through. Damn, I miss those things.”

His moment had come. “Hold that thought. Maybe I can get you something comparable?”

“You can try, babe..”

He stood up and dashed out of the room for a moment, along the corridor to his writing room, and quickly went through the desk drawers. _Bingo_.

He headed back into the TV room, hands behind his back. Her eyes flickered away from the screen. “So what have I got?”

“Something… _comparable_.”

She paused the film. “Bring it.”

He paced over to her, slowly. “You have to ask nicely.”

She stood up, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a tasty kiss. But then, just too late, he realised that it was a ruse to feel what he had in his hands behind his back…

“A-ha!” She pulled away, although her hands were still behind his back. “You.. how did you… how did you know?” She was unwrapping the bag already. “You are such a clever, clever husband..”

“You told me they were your favourites when we were in New York. You said you liked eating them at Christmas in front of Christmas movies. But you didn’t buy any. How could I possibly not sneak back to the store when you were snoozing the next morning and buy a stockpile?”

“I have never loved you more than I love you right now, Maxwell Percival Beaumont.” She removed one of her hands from behind his back, it contained a chocolate, which she placed in her mouth. Probably not _intentionally_ seductively, but this was Jen we were talking about.


	27. Look how you've grown (first anniversary)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New piece loosely based on a scene in the Royal Heir. In my timeline, their "babymoon" break in Lythikos happens around about their wedding anniversary, so I thought I'd tie it in :)

At some point after their desperate lovemaking against the cold window they’d collapsed onto the warm hotel room bed together, and dosed off. Jen came around to hear Maxwell chuntering away to himself.

“This was a good idea, me. I’m the best.”

She giggled, rustling his hair. “You’re not too shabby…”

“Crap, when did you wake up?”

“Just before you asked yourself how you’re so good at that every time.”

He cringed, covering his ears with the pillow he was lying on. “Nooo, Jen, that was the wrong answer…”

“Don’t worry, it’s a question I’ve been asking myself on a regular basis over the last thirteen months.”

He kissed her softly. “Thirteen months of getting even better at it.”

“One month was practice, remember?”

He laughed. “Okay. Twelve months, then. One year.”

“How has it been a year?” She rolled playfully onto her back, gazing over at him.

“I dunno, Jen, it seems like a long time in some ways… I mean… look how you’ve grown in that time..” He patted her tummy affectionately.

“It’s not me that’s grown, it’s this little kicker..”

“Is Maxwell junior playing soccer in there?”

She guided his hand. “Have a feel for yourself.”

She felt a kick, and watched his eyes light up. “Ah. There he goes. He’ll be making the Cordonian national team in no time.”

“Along with who? You, Rick and Drake?”

“Huh, yeah. Probably.”

“Can’t see Bertrand on the soccer team, to be fair…”

“We’d have to stick him in goal. Kick balls at him. Watch his face.”

She giggled. “Brotherly love…”

“Hey, it would be character building for him. And Bartie would find it hilarious, don’t ya think?”

“Aw, he could be the mascot, trotting out in a little Cordonia kit..”

“Nah, he’s on the team, along with Maxwell Junior, remember? That’s how we got on to this random conversation in the first place.”

She smiled. “I miss our random conversations sometimes. I didn’t realise how much I needed some ‘us’ time until now.”

“Well, whatever it is you wanna do today, you can do it. Even if you do just want to spend your whole day indulging the nonsense that comes out of my mouth. This little anniversary trip is all about you. I mean.. at least until my biiiig book signing tomorrow evening…”

“Which you are not at all excited about..”

“Me? Nah. Taking it… inmystride I’m sonotexcited…” He jumped up on the bed and did a little shimmy. Which would have been funny enough if he hadn’t been stark naked. Instead it was verging on the hilarious.

She shook her head. “Yes, Maxwell, I can see how excited you are about this. But, seriously, you do deserve your time in the spotlight.” Anything related to his book always brought the proud wife bursting out of her, even when he was dancing about starkers for his own amusement. “When’s the rest of the tour?”

“Hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Valtoria next, obvs. Then the capital, Portavira, and Ramsford’s bookshops won’t know what hit ‘em.” He jumped back down into the bed, and cuddled up against her. “So, what’s the plan?”

“I’m thinking it would be nice just to stay right here in this bed for a little while,” she suggested. “Why would I want to leave when everything I could possibly need is right here?”

She pulled him in for a long, slow kiss. Afterwards, he propped himself up on one elbow, grinning. “I could think of a _couple_ more things to treat you with.. a fancy meal, maybe some candles for ambience..”

“Oh, there’ll be time for those later. Or do you seriously want to _abandon your heavily pregnant wife_ to make those things happen?”

“Just making sure you really are comfy…” He snuggled closer to her. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. But if you need anything, Jen, anything at all.. I’m here to make it happen.”

“Well, you already did that, babe.” She giggled. “I suppose we could maybe spoil ourselves a little later on.. Mani-pedis, massages, and I think I saw a sign for a saltwater pool downstairs..”

“Well let me go right ahead and put the ‘kay’ in vacation, cause I am in. Need to limber up these fingers for that book signing, anyway..”

“And how else exactly were you planning on limbering up those fingers?” She licked her lips.

“Oof, give a man a break.. no, wait, forget I said that… How about I show you later on tonight?”

She laughed. “Okay. You have until this evening. Then you can limber up your signing fingers all you like.”

“Oh, the rigors of celebrity.”

They both laughed some more, collapsing on each other afterwards.

“We needed this. We deserve it. Let me give you one last guilt-free hurrah.”

“Consider me officially guiltless,” Jen assured him. “We need to think of the baby anyway. Less stress equals happy baby.”

“Oh yeah. This is all for Maxwell Junior’s benefit. Not yours.”

“Obviously. Hey, did anyone say hot chocolate? So weird. I could’ve sworn I heard someone say hot chocolate.”

He jumped out of the bed. “Room service, coming right up..” He pulled on his squid boxers.

“Ooh, hello again, monsieur,” she giggled. They still amused her every time they made an appearance.

“Enchante…”

She tackled him and pulled them off again. “Au revoir, squiddies.”

“What is French for squid anyway?”

“I dunno… _le squid?_ ”

“That’ll do.” He kissed her again. “Hey, as much as I loved our wedding day, I’m glad we’re here today, and it’s not then and we’ve not got to go through everything that we went through that day.”

“Hey, not all of it was so bad…” She looked contemplatively at him. “There were perfect moments, I mean, the ceremony, your speech, the first dance.. and I seem to think the early hours of the morning were pretty good.. maybe we can relive that bit later?”

“Erk. No pressure. So I just need to write you another poem that makes us both cry, get you more flowers, lose my wedding ring while dancing, and give you the most sensational night of your life?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“I think point four is definitely achievable,” she sighed happily, snuggling back into the blankets. “Hey, what happened to that hot chocolate anyway? Maxwell Junior expects his chocolate fix.”

He shook his head, looking away to address an imaginary audience. “Readers, this woman wanted it all, and our brave hero did his best to deliver.”


	28. Maxwell Beaumont I (Moving in together)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Straight from "The Valtoria Diaries"

The limo pulled up outside the mansion house, just over the bridge, and they looked at each other expectantly for a few seconds.

“Okay…” Maxwell said to Jen. “Ready for this?”

“I think so..” She looked a little concerned, and rightfully so.

He leapt out of the limo and, before she could gracefully emerge after him, he scooped her up in his arms.

“Maxwell, what the…” She kicked her legs playfully, he could feel her quiet giggles vibrating through her body where he held her.

“You just relax there while I carry you over the threshold, Mrs Beaumont..”

She squealed in elation as he ran with her towards the doors. Fortunately, they were opened from within just as he approached them, allowing him to keep going until they were in the entrance hall. He then lifted her up a little higher, spun her around in his arms, and delicately placed her back onto her feet. “There.”

“Maxwell, that was lovely, but a little warning would’ve been nice..”

“Where’s the fun in that?” He kissed her gently. “Welcome to our new home.”

There was a cough from behind him, and he span to see a tall, thin man standing by the doors, which were now closed. “Whoa!”

“Good evening, Your Graces.”

Jen’s face lit up. “Ah – you must be Gladys’s replacement?”

“My name is Christopher,” the man said. “And yes, I will be taking over Gladys’s duties temporarily, should Your Graces be in agreement. I have already met with Mara and her team, who are established in the North Wing.”

Maxwell exchanged an impressed glance with Jen. All very slick.

“Thank you, Christopher,” Jen said to him. “I’m sure we would be really grateful of your help. So, are you moving into Gladys’s apartment? Mara was saying it was being cleared today.”

“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary,” Christopher said. “I already live in one of the cottages just off the estate. I’ve been second in command to Gladys for a number of years, so am used to being called upon from there.”

Maxwell inspected Christopher suspiciously. “So, you knew Gladys was working with Anton and his cronies?”

“I had no idea, Your Grace. We were colleagues, not confidantes. Personally, I have always found it an honour to serve this estate, as did my mother and father before me. I have to confess, I was a little shocked to hear of the Duchess’s appointment..” He looked at Jen with a straight face. “But on discovering that she was to marry a representative of one of Cordonia’s Great Houses, I was suitably enthused.” He looked back at Maxwell.

“I think we’re going to get along just fine, Christopher,” Maxwell said with a smirk in Jen’s direction, revelling in her unimpressed scowl.

“Ahem. Well, Gladys obviously showed us around when we were here last, but if you would be so kind tomorrow as to run us through how everything works round here, that would be brilliant,” Jen said. “And it would be good to see Gladys’ apartment, as I have some thoughts as to how we could use that.”

This was news to Maxwell, and he looked at her with interest.

“But for tonight, we thought we might just get a light meal and then.. _retire_?” She looked back at him, seduction in her eyes. Sounded like a plan.

“Of course, Your Grace. Leave it with me.” He headed off.

Jen looked at Maxwell contemplatively. “As much as I like being waited on hand and foot, I think we need to consider how this is all going to work.”

“I don’t follow..”

She sighed. “I just want to feel like this is my home. When we’re at the palace and we’re waited on hand and foot, that’s fine. But when you’re at home, you just want to do things your own way, don’t you? I want us to make this place _our_ home, doing things ourselves, so we can get it how we want it.”

He laughed. “I never got to do that at Ramsford. It was Bertrand’s way or the highway.”

She giggled. “Well, I’m not Bertrand. Thankfully for all concerned.”

They heard Christopher heading back in their direction. “Your Graces?” He glanced towards the grand staircase. “There is one other thing. There was a… delivery… this morning…”

“Ohmygosh!” Jen’s eyes lit up and she started to jump up and down. “Maxwell, you know what that will be!”

“Oh! Well, you know what this means!” He turned back to Christopher. “A bottle of the finest champagne you have in the cellar, too…”

“Coming right up, Your Grace.”

They both rushed over to where the large box stood by the stairwell, in the exact position he had pictured it.

“And now, for the grand unveiling!”

“Could do with a knife to get into this box,” she admitted. “My nails are still too pretty to risk getting damaged..”

He laughed, seeing the irony of the situation. “Well, why don’t you use _my_ wedding present to _you_ , to get into _your_ wedding present to _me_!”

“Have I ever told you that you’re a freaking genius, Maxwell Beaumont?”

“On a number of occasions, but I’m not keeping a tab…”

It took them a few minutes, and some assistance from the house staff who were standing on chairs, to finally unbox the splendour of Maxwell Beaumont I. Once he had been completely freed from all his packaging, Maxwell stood back to admire him.

“I did say thank you, didn’t I?”

“Three times in very quick succession, yep.”

“By god, he’s fierce, isn’t he?”

“Olivia certainly thought so,” she sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. “She was quite overwhelmed by his brilliance.”

“Yesss. You happy for him to live here?”

“Absolutely. You really think I’d have been stupid enough to buy you a lifesize statue of your ancestor as a wedding gift if I didn’t want it in our house?”

“True, that..”

At that, Christopher arrived with the bottle of champagne, already opened and poured into two glasses.

Maxwell looked at Jen. “This guy has a _lot_ to learn, doesn’t he?”


	29. Standard Beaumont Bash Maxwell (first time looking after the other one drunk)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new piece which falls neatly into the Royal Heir timeline :)

It had been a _great_ night up until now, there was no denying that, but it had been a little surreal.

At last year’s Beaumont Bash, Jen had been regularly keeping her alcohol levels topped up. Probably a little _too_ regularly. At first, this had seemed like an excellent way of pushing back her inner angst. Then later, there was a horrifying moment of _ohmygod what if I say or do something stupid._ Then there was a gap of about two hours where she could very well have said or done something stupid but nobody in the room had had any recollection of it, including her. Then there was the game of truth or dare, and then there had been the inner angst again to round off the whole experience.

 _This_ year, she was totally stone cold sober, due to being three months pregnant. She was still pretty much fitting into her now considerable back catalogue of sexy dresses (she’d gone for the one she’d worn to Rick’s second bachelor party) but she was feeling tired, and sometimes dizzy, and occasionally still a bit sick.

Which was why she had very little sympathy for her husband at this very moment, as she held onto his shoulder while he puked into an empty champagne bucket on the patio terrace of Beaumont Manor as the sun came up. Hey, at least the view over the vineyard was nice here. Romantic, even, if you weren’t trying to stop your other half from getting vomit all over their favourite shirt.

After a few coughs and splutters, she diligently passed him some water.

“Heyyyyy, Florence Nightingale…”

“Heyyyyy, pisshead.”

“Awww, I’m sorry. Hey this is funny. This what I’m normally doing for you most mornings these days.”

“Yeah, make the most of it because it won’t be long before I’m getting my own bucket and joining you, instead of mopping your brow and passing you water.”

“Ugh, yeah…” He continued to spew up the copious amounts of pineapple paradise champagne punch that he had assured her it was a good idea to consume three hours ago.

“You didn’t get this bad last year,” she probed.

“Huh, and you know _exactly_ why that was,” he slurred. “Welcome to standard Beaumont Bash Maxwell. Last year was best behaviour Beaumont Bash Maxwell.”

“You could’ve fooled me,” she giggled, remembering some of his antics from last year, swinging on the chandeliers, dancing on top of a horse, serenading the whole party with his rendition of _This Is Me_ from the Greatest Showman.

“Ah. But I wasn’t.. I was careful what I drank. ‘Cos.”

“’Cos you didn’t want to end up in a heap, puking into an ice bucket?”

“I can live with that bit. No. I needed to keep my wits about me. I had to _not_ do anything stupid. If you catch my drift.”

She’d caught it alright. “Damnit. Should have spiked your drink, huh?”

He shot her a look. “Come on, Jen. Things were starting to go really well with you and Rick. And I was struggling with it. I knew if I took things too far I’d end up saying something really stupid. So I made out like I’d had lots to drink and just acted even more crazily than normal. You fell for it, huh?”

She nodded, thoughtful. “So, when I was drunk, did _I_ do or say anything stupid?”

He gazed lovingly at her for a second, then coughed. “Ugh…” More sick.

Afterwards, she passed him his water again. “I’m guessing I did, huh?”

“Well, there was this bit where we were dancing.. this was after the horses bit.. and you’d clearly decided it would be fun to invade my personal space…”

She threw him a look. “Oh, I am sure that invasion was desperately unwelcome…”

“God, Jen. I went with it for a moment, I’m not gonna lie. But then I span you out of it and into Rick’s arms. And you carried on oblivious.” He looked thoughtfully across the vineyard. “I’m not even sure whether you realised you’d changed partners.”

“God,” she giggled. “Do you think I called him by your name or anything stupid like that?”

“Who knows. He went off to his room not long after that.”

“Ohhhh.” She cringed. “Why have you never told me this before?”

“Because I’ve never been this drunk with you before. I wasn’t ever gonna tell you. Didn’t want to embarrass you.”

“Anything else you were never gonna tell me that I can get in while I have the chance? It’s time to spill.”

He looked pained for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay. So. Yeah. There is something, but there’s no point in me telling you because it’s just embarrassing and it’s worse for the other person..”

She nodded. “Ah. This is about Savannah making a pass at you in Paris, isn’t it.”

He sat upright. “You _knew?”_

“She told me on her bachelorette, when _she_ got really drunk…” 

He looked mortified. “Oh god..”

“Don’t worry!” She ruffled his hair reassuringly. “She said you were the perfect gentleman. I totally get why you didn’t want to tell me.”

“Phew. Do you think she’s told _Bertrand?_ ”

“Told me what?”

Jen turned to see Bertrand leaning against the door to the patio.

“Oh, hey Bertrand.”

Bertand tutted. “Such a bold sacrifice in the name of champagne punch. I salute you, brother.” He swaggered away again as quickly as he had arrived.

“Oh, thank god…” Maxwell’s eyes were dancing with mischief. “That coulda been awkward if he’d wandered over five seconds earlier, or he hadn’t been as wasted as I am.”

“Nah, you’ve sobered up considerably since we got out here,” she sighed. “You know, if you’re gonna stop being sick, we _could_ curl up on that sofa and just stay here until morning?”

He sighed, and closed his eyes, resting them on her shoulder. “Not gonna lie Jen, you’re my favourite person for a reason.”


	30. Hashtag living our best life (Grocery shopping)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new "Valtoria Diaries" era piece.

“Ooh, look at them, they look nice… woah, I have never seen them before… oh, Jen, can we get some of them?”

Jen sighed, she knew there was a good reason she’d never been grocery shopping with Maxwell before. It was probably the thing she missed the least about her old life; a thankless chore at the best of times, that usually culminated in her realising halfway out of the store that she’s forgotten half of the items on her mental list. But at least she was focused, she could get in and around and out in a short spell of time. Clearly, it was more like a novelty day trip to her husband.

“What are these, Jen? What do they do?” He prodded at the items on the end of the aisle with great interest.

“It’s like a plug in air freshener thing… you must have these in Cordonia, right?”

“Errr.. I don’t think the House Beaumont budget stretches to plug in air fresheners. Besides, all we have to do is open a window and let the fresh vineyard breeze enter the room..” He posed dramatically.

“I’m sure I’ve seen them around the palace and even at our place,” she sighed. “It’s little things that just sit out of focus. You’ll be seeing them everywhere when you get back. But we’ve not come to buy an air freshener. Come on. We need snacks for our trip to the zoo. And we haven’t got long because we have to be back at Anita’s by four-thirty..”

His eyes lit up. “Something to feed the snow leopards?”

She shook her head. “No. Snacks for _us_ only. And I have an idea. Come on.”

She led him to the confectionary aisle, and his eyes began to boggle.

“Ooh, they look good, they look good, they look good… I think I had some of them last time we were here, they _were_ good.. they look good, they look good...”

She reached for a bag of Hershey’s miniatures. “These are my favourites. God, I’ve missed these.” She passed him the bag.

“Ooh. They look good..”

She laughed. “Yeah. These are my go-to sitting on the sofa watching a TV marathon snack. And I know that’s not really how we roll at the moment. But, when we eventually get all settled and boring, and start doing things like that, I’m going to wish I had a stash of these.”

“Us? Boring? Never. You’ve not fully experienced my taste in TV shows yet…”

“I have seen enough to know that it will be an _experience…_ ”

He threw the bag back to her. “Better make it two bags then. If these are your favourites, you shouldn’t have to share them with anyone.” He picked up another bag. “Okay. Now what do we do?”

“We find a self serve counter, and we pay.”

He looked confused. “Self serve?”

She shook her head. “Just watch and learn.” He passed her the bag of chocolate goodness, and she paced in the direction of the counters, scanned their items, flashed her card, and waited for him at the other side. “There. Done.”

“Woah. It’s so easy these days.”

She looked sideways at him. “I guess you did grocery shopping to an extent when you were at college?”

“Grocery, nope. I paid money into a kitty for food and the girls used to go. Alcohol shopping, yup. That was my job.”

“Why am I not surprised?” she giggled. “Didn’t you consume most of it?”

“That is a slur on my good character,” he said, eyes narrowing.

“That’s a yes. Well, as the Duke of Valtoria, I do believe you can comfortably delegate the alcohol shopping, and the rest of the grocery shopping, to Christopher and his team from now on.” They wandered out of the supermarket. “I guess when we get home we should do a bit of a recce of what’s in the storeroom. Make sure all our favourite foods are in there and are getting ordered in enough quantities..”

“I’m thinking we might soon run out of candy corn and coffee if we’re not careful,” he agreed. “Oh, and champagne, of course..”

“D’you know what, I’m sure Christopher was briefed to increase the champagne stock when he found out you were moving in,” Jen giggled, linking her arm through his.

“He knew I was a connoisseur when it came to champagne?”

“Nope. Because he’d heard about your methods of opening bottles.”

He stopped and pointed at her. “Nope, because if he had, he’d not have opened that bottle for us the day we arrived when we christened the statue..”

She shook her head. “Okay, you have a point..”

“Do I win an argument? Do I? Really?” His face was a picture of hope.

“Who said it was an argument?” She wasn’t letting him have the satisfaction. “If you really want to win something, you’ll have to make do with my heart.”

He beamed, and clutched his chest dramatically. “The best prize I’ve ever claimed.”

She ruffled his hair. “Come on. The cute animals await us.”

He was coiled like a spring, hopping from foot to foot along the sidewalk. “Hashtag living our best life!”


	31. I thought you said he was fierce? (Sprinkleprompts Challenge)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Queen Kenna of the Five Kingdoms required urgent assistance, she summoned a great warrior to help. Or so she thought...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a response to a prompt on the Ao3 group from Sprinkledcupcake, I figured I would add it to this collection as it seems to fit better in here than on its own. We were given a random genre, setting and item to create a story with. 
> 
> I was given Modern Fairytale as a genre, but I decided as TRR is a modern fairytale that was cheating, so I asked for another genre and was given Fantasy Detective... Fantasy made me think of TCATF which is where I went with it!
> 
> Setting - a library (there is a scene in the library)
> 
> Item - a bell

STORMHOLT CASTLE c1200 

As he grooved into the grounds of Stormholt castle, marvelling at its grandeur, he got a few funny looks from the domestic staff dotted around its grounds – although, given that they were in medieval times, they’d probably never seen a dancing detective in a deer-stalker hat and a long coat before. He personally thought he was absolutely rocking his new look, he was particularly proud of the peacock feather he’d used to make his hat look distinctive, but maybe he should’ve worn something more era-appropriate? Oh well. He just congratulated himself for being ahead of his time.

He reached the gates, where two man-mountain guards leered over him menacingly.

“I’m here to see the Queen,” he announced triumphantly.

“And you are?”

“Duke Maxwell Beaumont, private investigator.”

The man-mountains (or was that _men-mountain?)_ looked at each other, and then again at him, with a symmetrical pair of menacing sneers.

“Honestly, I am. Here’s my card. Queen Kenna is expecting me. Obviously, I can’t tell you why.”

"Queen Kenna has guests,” growled one of the guards. Gosh, these guys made Bastien look chill.

“Oh, I’m sure she won’t mind one more,” he said with a wink. “I’m kind of a big deal.”

Just then, a sophisticated looking man with a beard appeared behind the guards. “Ah. Duke Beaumont?”

“At your service, ah…”

"Lord Raydan. Queen Kenna is expecting you. This way.”

Maxwell was led into an impressive looking library, which was reminding him of somewhere, by the bearded man, who was also reminding him of someone.

“If you’d like to wait here, Duke Beaumont, Her Majesty will be down shortly.”

“Splendid. Thank you.”

He wandered around the library, magnifying glass in hand. He noticed a number of books had been pulled slightly out from of one of the shelves, and inspected one of them carefully. It was a book about the history of Thorngate. Oddly, the corners of the pages were singed as if they had been set on fire.

And then, on the table, there was a bell. A bell. Why a bell?

No matter. It just seemed important for some reason. He’d figure it out.

A herald walked into the room. “Her Majesty Queen Kenna Rys of the Five Kingdoms and Lady Xenobia Nevrakis of Lythikos.”

 _Nevrakis?_ _Wait, what?_

It wasn’t the Queen who caught his attention first, but her stunning, red-headed companion. _No……_

_Olivia?”_

Oh, it was her alright. Or, was it? Although her expression portrayed her customary disappointment on catching sight of him, it was without recognition.

Her mouth was open, and she turned to the Queen. “Kenna, I thought you said he was fierce?”

He finally looked upon the Queen. Just as beautiful as in the storybooks, she looked serenely back at him.

“I thought he was,” she said, walking closer up to him. “Duke Beaumont?”

“The one and only,” he said with a wink.

"Obviously not. Duke _Maxwell_ Beaumont?”

“Ha, yeah, okay you got me there, my brother’s a duke as well…”

Kenna put her hands on her hips. “You have a brother called Maxwell?”

“No, _I’m_ Maxwell. My brother’s Bertrand.”

“There’s clearly been a misunderstanding. I summoned Duke Maxwell Beaumont. The renowned warrior who just came to these lands from France?”

“Yeah. Big and strong looking, wielding weapons while riding a horse,” not-Olivia said. “Not you. You don’t even look as if you could _pick up_ a weapon.”

“Hey, I am _wounded._ And if you must know, it’s my day off warrioring today. You have me in full detective mode.” He tipped his hat at the ladies. “Because I understood there’s a mystery that needs solving.”

“Indeed there is,” Kenna said, sitting down on the seat of the table. “My husband Dom is missing, and he’s been gone a long time. I’ve exhausted all possibilities of where he might be… _what_ he might be…”

“Oh, this is Dragon King guy, huh? You think he’s gone flying off somewhere?”

“I think so,” Kenna sighed. “We parted on bad terms. He was angry and confused. That’s why I have decided to recruit the strongest warriors in the Five Kingdoms to find him and bring him home. I’ll pay you handsomely if you find him.”

Maxwell pulled a face. “And what if I find him and he basically sets me on fire and I burn to death screaming in agony?”

“Then I will pay your widow handsomely.”

Maxwell gulped. “Right. Okay. Well, I’ll give it a go. I already have a lead.” He picked up the bell. “And I’m going to need this. Don’t know why though.”

Not-Olivia rolled her eyes. “You might as well say goodbye to this jester. Dom’s gonna make charcoal out of him.”

“Good luck, Maxwell Beaumont,” Kenna said fondly.

“Thank you. And, can I just say, your descendants are gonna be ruling over this land almost a thousand years from now.”

“A worthy compliment,” said Kenna. “Thank you.”

Not-Olivia scowled at him. “What about mine?”

“Yours are gonna be skulking around this land being equally terrifying and cool and carrying lots of secret weapons.”

Not-Olivia smiled. “I am glad to hear it.”

***

The journey to Thorngate Castle took quite a few weeks, but he made it. He managed to blag his way into village inns for food and board along the way. Telling them all that he was on a top secret detective mission for the Crown usually got him in the door; once he was in the door he managed to entertain them all with his breakdance moves and his bottle-opening skills, and they were all assured that he would recompense them once he had been successful in his mission.

Every night, he went to sleep, looking at the bell on the side of the bed, wondering what was missing. He had a feeling that whatever it was, it was the key to solving this mystery.

Every day, he woke up early, headed on, searching for clues. He was very close to Thorngate Castle now. Every now and then he found a scorched tree, or some charred remains, or… wait, what was that?

He picked up a brightly coloured hat made from orange feathers.

_I’ve seen this before. Phoenix… Ever Rising…._

He knew he was on the right track now.

At the end of a particularly long day, Thorngate Castle began to appear on the horizon. He scanned it optimistically, hoping to see a giant dragon flying around it, but there was nothing. Luckily, he came to another village, and another village inn, just before he passed out.

“It is I, the great detective, Maxwell Beaumont, here to solve the Crown’s mysteries…” he said as he waltzed into the bar and placed himself on a stool.

The landlady looked very familiar, with long flowing brown hair. “Well, there’s plenty of mysteries in this village. Maybe you can help us solve our mysteries too.”

“Maybe I could… in exchange for lodgings for the night?”

She laughed. “I’ll have to check with my brother on that.” She gestured to an angry looking man at the next table, drinking whisky.

“Maybe ask him later. He doesn’t look very friendly.”

“Oh, he isn’t. His girl’s gone missing.”

“Really?” Maxwell pulled the feathered hat out of his sack. “I don’t suppose this is hers?”

The barmaid gasped and the grumpy man turned to face him, his expression now shocked. “That’s Jen’s hat.”

“In that case, I think our mysteries are linked, my dear Drake.”

“How’d you know my name?” Shock had turned back to annoyance.

“I have privileged information. I am a detective on a mission to find the Dragon King. And I have reason to believe that your… _Jen_ … might be with him. Call it intuition.”

“Pff. And here was me thinking she’d run off with my best friend.”

“Nope, she most definitely would not do that.”

“How’d you know? And who the hell are you anyway?”

Maxwell winked at Drake. “Your new best friend.”

***

They all stood at the gates of the abandoned castle; Maxwell was with Drake, Drake’s best friend Rick, and a petite brunette who he’d just assumed was called Hana.

“Whoa….”

It was then they saw him. The dragon king. Circling around one of the towers. And they heard the screams. They shot through Maxwell like a pain he had never felt before.

“I have to save her,” he announced.

“No, you have to bring the dragon back to the Queen. I’m the one who’s gonna save my girl,” Drake explained.

“We’re all here to help you, Drake,” Rick said, reassuringly. “Even our new friend.”

They all headed into the castle grounds, and made their way as close to the tower as they dared.

“He’s going to see us at some point,” Rick pointed out.

“We need to wait until he flies off,” Hana suggested.

“What does he want with her?” Drake moaned.

“Leave it all to me,” said Maxwell. “I know what we have to do. And if anything goes wrong, well. You can all claim my reward from the Queen for finding her King.”

“If anything goes wrong, we’ll all be dead, you imbecile.”

“Hey,” said Hana, soothingly. “Let’s stay focussed. Maxwell seems to know what he’s doing. And his reputation precedes him. Did you know he’s a great warrior, who’s ridden horseback all the way from France to settle in the Five Kingdoms?”

Drake and Rick both looked at him and laughed.

“Wait, Hana, I got here by land? Not by sea?”

She looked confused. “Mostly.”

“Oh. Guess the seafaring squid-fetish days came later. Well, I might be a great warrior fabled through time, but today it’s my day off. Today I am Fantasy Detective Maxwell. And, I’m just about to crack this case wiiiiiide open!”

He reached into his sack of possessions, and produced the bell he had brought from the library at Stormholt.

_A bell… it means something, I’m sure…_

“Here goes nothing!”

He rang the bell as loudly as he could, holding it up in the air.

The dragon screeched and flew away from the tower.

“Yesss. Now we can save the fair maiden.”

Drake hurtled past him and to a door at the bottom of the tower, running up a staircase. Rick and Hana followed him.

“Hey guys, that door’s only gonna be locked when you get up there…” he called up after them. Instead, he wandered back from the tower, and around it, until he spotted a window. He rang the bell once more.

The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life came to the window, and opened it wide. “Hey. My hero.”

His heart fluttered. “Uh.. I guess I am.”

“You saved me from the dragon, right?”

“Yyyyeahh. Looks that way…”

She shot him a smouldering look that made his insides turn to jelly. “What brought you here?”

“Well, that’s a funny story, ah… originally, I thought I came here to solve the mystery of where the Dragon was… but now… I think the mystery was you. And where you were.”

“And.. a bell?”

He laughed out loud. “ _Annabelle._ ” He rang it again.

This time when he rang it, a loud swooping noise came from overhead, and the colossal dragon returned to its roost. Jen didn’t look afraid, instead as it came to the window, she grabbed onto its back and let it carry her down from the tower to the floor.

A loud bang was heard from upstairs at that point, followed by some shouts.

“Sounds like your boyfriend broke the door down,” he pointed out.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said, as the dragon placed her safely down on the floor. “Well. Not anymore.”

She ran to him and he swept her up in his arms and kissed her, as easily as it was a dream. She was everything that was soft and warm and it just felt like the right thing to do.

Afterwards, he gazed at her.

“Weren’t you supposed to be taking Dom home to Kenna?” she asked.

“Hell, no. Not interested. I’m more interested in taking you back to my place. Besides, I’m sure he knows his way back to Stormholt. Right, Dom?”

The dragon had been silently observing, but now its eyes sparked anger and rage. There was an almighty roar, and a flame hurtled towards him.

“Noooo…. don’t prove Olivia right….”

***

“Hey? You okay?”

“Mnnn, no, help…!”

He opened his eyes. All was dark. And surprisingly cool considering he had just been incinerated.

“Bad dream?” she asked him, perched up on an elbow in their bed at Valtoria, looking down at him.

“ _Strange_ dream,” he acknowledged. “You were in it. And Olivia. And.. a fire breathing dragon.”

She giggled. “Was _Olivia_ the fire breathing dragon?”

“No.. I think Drake was in it too. That’s right! You were his girl, and I had to rescue you from the dragon, who was the Dragon King…”

Jen shook her head, and patted his fondly. “Maxwell, you’ve been spending too much time in the library reading The Crown and the Flame to Annabelle, haven’t you?”

He nodded, placing his arms around his wife and pulling her close. “Some good detective work there, Jen.”


End file.
